


It Couldn't Wait Another Moment

by ArgyleMN



Series: It Couldn't Wait Another Moment [1]
Category: The Royal Romance (Visual Novel)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Study, F/M, Gun Violence, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Injury, Intoxication, Personal Growth, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:07:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 110,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24106444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArgyleMN/pseuds/ArgyleMN
Summary: In the grand scheme of things, talking to someone 48 hours earlier or later shouldn’t make much of a difference. But what if Drake hadn’t waited to slide a note under Riley’s door until their last night in New York? What if he had decided to talk to her as soon as possible after she cleared her name? Before Liam broke things off with Madeleine? Before he proposed? How would that one change impact the two of them and their closest friends? This fic that diverges from canon in TRR Book 2, Chapter 15 explores that very topic.
Relationships: Drake Walker/Main Character (The Royal Romance)
Series: It Couldn't Wait Another Moment [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1739290
Comments: 86
Kudos: 15





	1. Prologue

* * *

“You told Justin not to release Tariq’s statement to the press, right?” Drake asked, placing his hand on Riley’s shoulder.

“Yeah…” she replied, glancing around the room, taking in the hum of vibrating phones surrounding her.

Well, that wasn’t how things had worked out. Obviously, that Justin prick had gone behind Riley’s back to get that footage out as soon as possible. Maxwell was talking to Riley now, so Drake pulled up Tariq’s video statement on the Cordonian News Network’s website. The whole thing was classic Tariq, self-important and pretentious, but at least he owned up to things and stressed that Riley was completely blameless. Small victories.

As the crowd around him murmured about how awful Tariq was and how bad they all felt for Riley, he rolled his eyes. Typical. Treat her like pond scum until her social stock rose, then pretend that they had always been on her side. Act like they hadn’t made snide comments about her for months. They were only being supportive of her now because… because they thought she was going to be queen. And they probably were right.

The reality of the day hit him like a ton of bricks. Riley was free. She could be with Liam now. As if his thoughts summoned him, Liam appeared on the stage, calling for a toast in honor of Riley. Drake raised his glass with the crowd, calling her name in support. Part of him wanted to leave this wedding shower, find the closest dive bar, and down whiskey until Bastien came to bring him home like the old days. It was a tempting option. He hadn’t been that foolish in years, but the next couple of days were going to hurt like hell. She was going to pick Liam.

Except maybe she wouldn’t. As much as past experience taught him to brace himself, things felt different this time. Riley had chosen to spend time with him long after it was clear Liam was completely into her, and her alone. Yesterday, she had asked him about their future a couple of times, brought up marriage even. Maybe keeping things vague with her had been the wrong call. He hadn’t wanted to pressure her and be an emotional burden, but now he wondered if she would interpret that as a lack of interest on his part. As scared as he was that Riley would reject him for Liam, just like they all did, the thought that she might do so without really knowing how he felt was somehow more terrifying. _“I have to tell her. I have to talk to her.”_

His initial instinct was to take a day or two, figure out what to say and delay the inevitable pain for as long as possible. But what was really going to change over the next couple of days other than… well, other than Liam proposing? Drake was sure Liam would make his move soon. He had never seen Liam so drawn a woman as he was to Riley, and although he was able to put on a calm front in front of the press, Drake could tell he was getting impatient in his relationship with Madeleine. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he needed to talk to Riley soon, maybe even tonight. If he didn’t, if he waited until Liam proposed, he would just be left wondering “what if” for the rest of his life.

Glancing around for Riley, he noticed that she was being berated by Madeleine. He walked over to intercede, but Madeleine walked off before he arrived. “Come on, Liu. Let’s get out of here before the press shows up to ask questions.”

As he walked back to the hotel with Riley, Maxwell, and Hana, Drake realized he had to talk with Riley that night. If he waited, he would lose his nerve and chicken out. Tonight, he was motivated. They all poured into the elevator, Riley and Hana laughing at some joke Maxwell had told. Hana yawned as she exited on the 17th floor, waving goodnight and within moments, the door was opening on the 22nd floor. Maxwell hugged Riley, then gestured to Drake, “You coming?”

“I’m gonna walk Liu to her room.”

“Alright, goodnight Riley. I’ll see you later, roomie”

An uncomfortable silence settled into the elevator after the doors closed. The four floors up to Riley’s room seemed to take a lifetime, and Drake hadn’t felt this awkward around her since the first few days of the social season. As they turned right off the elevator and walked toward her suite, Riley finally broke the silence. “Hey, you’ve been pretty quiet since we left the wedding shower. Is something wrong?”

Drake shook his head, unable to form any words. They stopped outside her door and Riley pulled out her key card. “Alright then. Goodnight, Drake.”

He was missing his chance. She was walking into her room, and he hadn’t said a damn thing. She turned back to him, raising a hand in goodbye when he finally found his words. “Riley, wait. We need to talk … about us.”

* * *


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the grand scheme of things, talking to someone 48 hours earlier or later shouldn’t make much of a difference. But what if Drake hadn’t waited to slide a note under Riley’s door until their last night in New York? What if he had decided to talk to her as soon as possible after she cleared her name? Before Liam broke things off with Madeleine? Before he proposed? How would that one change impact the two of them and their closest friends?

Drake followed Riley into her hotel suite. He was so focused on his mission that it didn’t even occur to him to check for witnesses until Riley scanned both directions down the hallway before closing the door. The temptation to dive straight into the speech he’d imagined on the walk back to the hotel was strong, but he could tell Riley wasn’t ready to listen just yet as she walked to the minibar and crouched down, looking through it.

“Do you want a drink? I’m sure there’s whiskey in here.”

“Nah, I’m fine.”

She spun on her heels at that, staring straight at him. “How serious is this?”

“Look, Liu. Now that your name has been cleared, Liam is going to come to you and-”

“Drake, before you go any further, I have to say something. I can’t keep doing this. I’m so sick of having to sit there and bat my frickin’ eyelashes when he compliments me, pretending like nothing has changed. Next time we’re alone, I’m telling him about us.” 

“Liu, we’ve talked about this-”

“Yeah, and you didn’t seem to think it was such a bad idea when I said I was going to tell him I wasn’t interested when we got to Shanghai.”

“But then you decided _not_ to tell him.”

“His dad collapsed! What was I supposed to do? Break up with him at the hospital?”

“All I’m saying is that you’ve changed your mind on this a couple of times. Before you decide what you want to say to him, you should make sure your head is on straight.”

“Make sure my head is on straight? What the hell are you talking about, Drake? Am I just some emotional woman who doesn’t know what she wants?”

Drake sighed. This was not going at all how he planned. “You know that’s not what I meant. I just think you should be sure what you want to say to him before you talk to him.”

“I _am_ sure what I want to say. You’re the one who’s sending out mixed signals. You kiss me, then you talk about me being with Liam. You said that we could talk about our future after we dealt with Tariq, then you come up here tonight and tell me not to end things with Liam just yet. It’s like you’ve been leading me on or some shit.”

What was left of his plan flew out the window as he got angrier with each word she said. “Oh, don’t give me that. We both know you hold all the power here,” he snarled.

“Really? Because for the past few months, you’ve been able to do what you please while I’ve been forced to play nice with a bunch of royals and nobles to prove that I’m an acceptable match for a man I don’t even want, and I’m just so sick of all of _this_ \- the pretension, the ass kissing, the stiffness. I thought I was getting used to it, but being back in New York just makes it worse.”

“Well, join the fucking club. I’ve always told you it doesn’t get any better,” he snapped.

“Then why are you still here? If you’re so miserable, why don’t you leave?”

“You damn well know why, Liu.”

She rounded on him, arms crossed and eyes burning with a dangerous fury. “You know what, I think you use Liam as an excuse. The truth is you are scared that if you leave court, you will still be miserable, and then you won’t have anything else you can blame for your unhappiness, because there is no way in hell that you sticking around to shove your tongue down my throat any moment we’re alone is for his benefit.”

“Hey! It’s not like I’m the only one initiating stuff between us. In fact, I seem to recall you hinting we should get a room after you stripped down to your underwear to seduce me, so don’t give me that hypocritical bullshit. You whine about having to see him way more after you escalate things with us. If that doesn’t scream guilty conscience, well-”

“OF COURSE I FUCKING FEEL GUILTY!” She took a deep breath before continuing, “I can barely even make eye contact with him anymore. He’s such a good man, and I am treating him so poorly. I’d hoped he would pick up on the fact that I ignore his flirting and never kiss him anymore, but it’s so obvious he thinks I’m still here for him. Every conversation between us ends with him smiling and me miserable.”

Drake scoffed and shook his head, “Unreal.”

“What’s your problem? Just because I haven’t known him my entire life doesn’t mean I can’t feel horrible about how I’m treating him.”

“So take your own advice and leave.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me! You wonder why _I’m_ still here? The way better question is why the hell are _you_ still here.”

“Well, less than an hour ago I was still working to clear my name, so that seems like a pretty good reason. I’m sorry I didn’t kick you out and immediately start packing my bag when we got back to the hotel.”

“So are you going to leave, now that you name is cleared? I don’t mean tonight, but is that the plan?”

Riley sank onto the foot of the bed, “I hadn’t really thought about it. I mean, I kind of just assumed I’d go back to Cordonia, but I guess I wouldn’t have to. We are in my hometown right now…” She trailed off, taking a moment to collect her thoughts, but soon continued on, “I wouldn’t have a place to live for at least a month or two, until I can get the subleaser out of my apartment, but I could probably crash with Daniel until I get a new job and start earning some money. I obviously burned every bridge at that bar, but I’m sure I can find something else.”

As her words rapidly developed into plans, Drake’s rage subsided, and he realized he had just encouraged her to leave his continent, and pretty aggressively at that. “I didn’t mean you had to stay in the States. I’m sure Maxwell and Bertrand would host you if you wanted to stay in Cordonia and find a job there.”

“Yeah, I’m sure Bertrand would be thrilled to support the woman who could have brought fame and fortune to House Beaumont but instead pissed it away.”

“Maxwell would make it happen. He would miss you too much otherwise. We all would.”

“We?”

“Come on, Liu. I would miss you like crazy if you left. You know that, right?” Drake sat next to her on the end of her bed, clutching her hands. “Of course I would miss you. I just wanted you to see that you had options beyond staying at court.” She didn’t respond, seemingly still mulling things over. Well, if he was gonna do this, he had better _do_ this. Taking a deep breath, he continued, “Riley, I love you.”

She turned her head and replied, “I love you, too.”

“You do?”

“Of course, you moron. You think I would put up with all of this if I didn’t?” Then her lips were on his, tender at first, but quickly becoming more passionate as she slid her hands around his neck and pulled him closer. He responded, running his hands along her back, but suddenly she pulled away. He started to object, but then he saw her hitch up her dress as her right leg swung over his lap, moving to straddle him and erasing all distance between them in a moment.

His body was responding to her change in position, and it was obvious Riley noticed as she rolled her hips over his lap. Drake’s head dropped back as he let out some noise between a groan and a combination of several swears. How had they gone from fighting to declarations of love to _this_ in the course of five minutes? He didn’t have much time to think about it though, because Riley began roughly kissing his neck and any thoughts that weren’t _her_ were instantly erased. His hands ran up and down her sides, ghosting over her curves before settling one along her hip and the other at the base of her neck, holding her to him as she continued to grind her hips down against him. He pulled his head back up and captured Riley’s lips with his.

He felt vaguely out of control, biting her lip, hands pulling and grabbing, but Riley didn’t seem to mind, groaning deeply and pushing on his shoulders, tumbling them both back. His legs still awkwardly hung off the end of the bed, but her mouth moved along his jaw towards his earlobe, and her hand trailed down his chest, and hell if he was going to say anything that might stop her. Her hand continued south, stopping over the front of his jeans and palming him roughly.

“Shit, Liu,” he groaned, bucking his hips up into her touch. He tangled his hand into her hair, redirecting her so he could kiss her again while he slipped his other hand down her back to her ass, anchoring her tightly against him.

“Drake, can you,” she breathed between kisses, “my hand, it’s kinda trapped.”

“Sorry,” he said, loosening his grip on her, “Is this oka-” but further apologies were cut off as Riley slammed her lips back into his, both of her hands now running along his chest. She pulled on his collar, sitting them both upright before she slid her hands under his shirt, trying to pull it off his shoulders. Drake helped her shrug it off, dropping it over the end of the bed as Riley began slipping her hands beneath the hem of his undershirt. She scraped her nails across his skin and Drake let out a shaky breath before their lips met again. He worked on a strap of her dress, attempting to drop it off her shoulder, but the design of her dress seemed to be conspiring against him.

“You’re gonna have to,” Riley started before bringing their lips back together, “undo it in the back.” After a few more biting kisses, she stood up, spinning so her back was facing Drake and pulling her hair over her shoulder. Drake stood without thinking, completely drawn to her, and started to unzip her gown, his lips following along her spine as it was revealed to him. He reached about halfway down her back before he realized there had been nothing else covering her under the dress.

“Shit Liu; you aren’t wearing a bra.”

“The sides of the dress have lace inlays. It would have ruined the look.” Drake’s hands drifted to her sides, tracing the lace up and down her body several times before realizing just how low the lace sat on her hips.

“No panties either,” she purred, answering the question he never asked. Groaning, he dragged his hands away from her. This was escalating rapidly and he felt he was near the point of no return.

“Liu, we gotta slow down. If that dress comes off, I don’t know that I’ll be able to stop.”

She turned her head over her shoulder, staring at him with dark, blazing eyes, “I wouldn’t mind that at all.”

“Fuck, Liu…”

“Would it really be so bad if we let this happen tonight? We already exchanged ‘I love yous’. Is it so wrong if we show each other how much we mean those words?” She turned toward him, the front of her dress loose and the straps barely clinging to her shoulders. “Do you _really_ want to stop? Because I just want _you_.”

With those words, something inside Drake snapped and he was tugging off her dress, watching it pool on the floor and then dragging his eyes over her, finally taking her all in. “You’re so fucking gorgeo-”

His words were halted as cotton smothered his face, Riley attempting to remove his t-shirt as she commanded, “Less compliments, more stripping.”

Drake had barely wiggled out of his shirt before he felt her fingers working on his belt, causing him to swallow hard and drop his head into the crook of her neck. He kissed along her throat, dragging one hand into her hair to give him better access and slowly trailing the other one down her body, stopping along her inner thigh. He heard her let out a whimper as he traced rough circles along her skin, inching closer and closer to her center with each pass. Her hand clutched his wrist, trying to redirect him, and his desire to tease her warred with his desire to give her anything she wanted. However, as she ran her teeth lightly over his earlobe, he knew he was done for, and he slid his hand slightly over, groaning as he realized how turned on she was.

He sank onto the bed, continuing to stroke her as he dropped kisses along her chest. He listened carefully to her breathing, her sighs and shivers, trying to learn what she liked. As he roughly circled his thumb over her bundle of nerves, he noticed her breathing hitch. “Too hard?”

“No, just like, shit, _that_ ,” she breathed out, grinding her hips into his hand. He increased the pressure with his one hand while his other dug into her waist, keeping her in place. He stared up at her face, her eyes slammed shut and her cheeks flushed pink. She was so damn beautiful, and he felt somewhat in awe that she was allowing him to touch her, to be with her like this. Her hands clutched at this hair, pulling in an effort to anchor herself to something as her breathing became more rapid. He dropped his lips to her nipple and swirled his tongue as he curled his fingers inside her, and then she fell over the edge, her breath catching in her throat with a whine as her knees buckled and she tumbled onto his lap.

He ran his hands over her back and pressed a soft kiss to her temple, waiting for her to recover. After a few moments, she pulled her head back and stared at him, kissing him roughly before climbing up and sliding her hands under the waist of his jeans. “Hips up. These have to go. _Now_.”

Drake slid back on the bed, and started to lift his hips to help her before he remembered something. “Wait,” he panted, fumbling around in his back pockets.

“Seriously, Drake? You’re going to stop things here?”

“No, I just need to find…” he mumbled, first pulling out his phone, slamming it on the nightstand behind him, then finding his wallet and flipping through. He finally found the foil packet and held it up, dropping his wallet to the ground and sliding further onto the bed as Riley tugged off his pants. She crawled onto the bed hurriedly and climbed on top of Drake, lips crashing into each other again as she reached her hands under the waistband of his boxers, yanking them down. Drake ripped open the condom wrapper and slid it on as he tried to kick his boxers fully off his legs, sending half the bedding to the floor in the process. Then, she was sliding down onto him and he almost lost it right there.

He couldn’t believe this was actually happening. Too many nights he had stayed awake, fantasizing about this. But even in his wildest dreams he couldn’t have pictured it feeling this good, hearing the breathy groans tumbling off her lips, watching her breasts sway as she set the tempo, rolling her hips. His fingers dug into her side like his life depended on it as he thrust against her, trying to match her speed. She gradually began to pick up her pace, dropping her chest to his. Then, music cut through the room.

_So no one told you life was gonna be this way._

Riley stopped the rhythm of her hips, sitting upright and staring at him. “The Friends theme song is your ringtone?”

Drake sighed, covering his face with his hand.

_Your job’s a joke, you’re broke, your love life’s DOA._

“Just for Maxwell.”

“You have a special ringtone for Maxwell?”

“He set it one night on the train and I don’t know how to change it.”

She was suspiciously silent, although his phone continued to ring. Drake dared to glance at Riley, who was biting her lip, eyes dancing with clear amusement.

“Go ahead…” he sighed, gesturing with his hand.

Her laughter rang out, bright and cheerful, and in spite of his embarrassment, Drake found himself chuckling as well.

“Are you going to answer? He’s probably looking for his best friend roomie.”

“Sure, I’ll tell him _exactly_ where I am right now,” he said, rolling his hips for emphasis.

“Not anymore, you aren’t” she teased as she slid off him, crawled forward, and grabbed his phone off the nightstand as the call thankfully went to voicemail. “You have six unread texts from him.”

“Give me that,” Drake said as he sat up, but Riley dodged his hands. “I’ve been a little busy.”

“Do you want to get back to him?”

“Yeah, go ahead and call him back right now.” Riley smirked, and Drake realized she fully intended to do just that. “Wait, Liu, stop! Give me back my phone!”

“Don’t worry, I won’t call him. I can change your ringtone if you unlock your phone for me.”

“Oh no, I’m not falling for that.” Drake lunged forward, trying to snatch his phone from her hands, sliding an arm around her waist as she straddled his thighs.

Riley laughed, holding his phone behind her back. “If you want this phone back, you’ll have to grab it yourse-”

Drake yanked her close, crashing his lips into hers. She moaned into his mouth, sliding her hands into his hair. Drake heard a soft thump, presumably his phone falling somewhere, but that didn’t matter at all. The fire between them was back and all-consuming. He pushed off the mattress, rolling them over and drawing a surprised yelp from Riley.

“You alright?” he asked, bracing himself up on one arm, overwhelmed by the sight of her beneath him, her black hair fanned out on the pillow, her skin glistening, and her eyes locked on his.

“Perfect,” she whispered, bringing his head down and kissing him, wrapping her legs around his waist.

Soon, Drake was moving within her, thrilling in the feel of her, the taste of her skin, the inarticulate moans and sighs she was making. He lost himself, with no sense of anything besides _her_ and _them_. He tilted her hips up slightly, drawing a low moan of “Drake,” from Riley, as well as sharp nails dragging across his back that pushed him that much closer to the edge. He knew he wouldn’t be able to last much longer. It was a miracle he had made it this long. Using one hand for leverage against the headboard, his other slipped down to rub clumsy circles right above where they were joined, trying to push her over before him. After a few more thrusts, he felt her flutter and clench around him as she sighed out a raspy, “Fuck,” and he was gone. He lost all sense of rhythm as he drove into her a few last times, a loud rushing sound surrounding him as the tension finally snapped and he collapsed onto her, spent and boneless. 

After a few moments, he moved to roll over, not wanting to crush Riley, but her hand grabbed at his shoulder, stopping him on his side.

“Where are you going?”

“Nowhere. C’mere.” She rolled quickly into his arms, snaking her hands behind his neck. “I just didn’t want to crush you.”

“Hmmm,” she hummed into his shoulder, “Well, this is a nice alternative.”

She clung to him tightly, and Drake could feel her heart pounding against her chest, sure that his was beating just as wildly. He ran his hands through her hair and across her neck, wanting to keep touching her in any way he could. Riley seemed to desire the same, threading her leg between his and tracing her hand up and down his back.

For several minutes, they held each other without speaking. The only sounds in the room were their heavy breaths which slowly drifted into a calmer pattern. Eventually, Riley broke the relative silence.

“Not to kill the mood, but I don’t know if I can go back to Cordonia with you.”

Drake’s heart clenched. Why was she leaving him? Trying to keep his voice calm and level, he asked, “Why not?”

“It doesn’t make much sense, Drake. I came to Cordonia on a whim. My job sucked, and it seemed like a fun story. I never expected to be gone for almost a year. I’m completely out of money now, and at some point reality hits. I may not have had much of a life before you four walked into that bar, but what life I have still is here. I have a home and I could go back to school and at least finish my degree. I know people here who can help with networking. On the other hand, immigrating to a foreign country to look for a service industry job seems like a poor choice, particularly since I don’t speak one of the two languages spoken in Cordonia.”

“I just got you,” Drake whispered, hiding his face in her shoulder, “I’m not ready to let you go.” Riley remained silent, running her hand through his hair. “Please say something, Liu.”

“It’s not just about money. I can’t keep dating you in secret. I want to _be_ with you, go on dates, hold your hand. I can’t keep doing things like this.”

“We wouldn’t have to keep things hidden anymore.”

Drake felt Riley shaking her head, and pulled back slightly to look at her. Her eyes were rolled back and tears were starting to trail down her cheeks. “Riley, what is it?”

“How does that work? You work at the palace with Liam, then drive to Ramsford to take his ex on dates in your free time? That will be healthy for your relationship with him. And I’m sure the press with have a field day with it, too. We don’t even know if they really believe Tariq’s statement, but I’m guessing it will hurt my credibility if I return dating _another_ of Liam’s friends. It’s one thing to deal with the rumors in a different country, but Cordonia is so small. I wouldn’t be able to escape judgment anywhere. It would probably hurt my chances of getting any sort of job, too. No one wants to hire a waitress who is going to be mobbed by paparazzi.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Drake, be realistic. Me coming to Cordonia is basically agreeing to become the media’s American slut who sits around with the Beaumonts waiting for your down time from working with the king I rejected, or keeping things between us secret. I don’t know if I can do that, Drake. I’m sorry, but I just want a semblance of a normal relationship.”

Drake swept his thumb along her cheek, wiping away tears and smudged makeup. As much as it hurt him, he couldn’t ask her to be unhappy for his sake. “I understand, Liu. I don’t want you to be in any pain.”

“So where does that leave us?”

“I don’t know. We could try long distance.”

“Long distance is so hard, Drake.”

“Well, I don’t have any other ideas. It’s sure better than breaking up.”

“I guess.”

“You guess? Liu, are you telling me you want to end this?”

“No! Of course not. I just wish there was a better option. But unless you…” she trailed off.

“Unless I what?”

“Never mind, it’s nothing,” she said as she rolled away from him and sat up on the edge of the bed.

“Liu, if you have a better idea, let’s hear it.”

“Forget it. I was being stupid.” She was sorting through their clothing frantically, pulling her dress out of the comforter that had ended up on the ground, but quickly gave up trying to struggle into it, shrugging on his old denim shirt instead. Drake was momentarily taken in by the sight of her in his clothing, forgetting everything but the utter fantasy in front of him. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew this was wrong, that Riley shouldn’t be trying to scramble away from him, but the sight of her in only his shirt momentarily pushed all other thoughts from his brain. He sat up, leaning forward to take it all in.

“Riley, come here.” She ignored him, digging though her suitcase and grabbing a few items. “What are you talking about?” he continued.

“I said forget it, Drake!” With that, she dashed into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

“ _Well, shit_ ,” thought Drake, “ _What the hell just happened?_ ” He flopped back on the bed, his head lightly bouncing off the pillow. The emotional swings of the evening were just now beginning to set in, and he wondered if mental whiplash was possible. What the hell had sent Riley flying from bed and to the closest piece of clothing? She had stayed in his arms for most of talk about their future, so what had changed? Riley clearly thought of an alternative to long distance, but for whatever reason that idea upset her. Running his hand over his face, he quickly tried to determine what he was missing, this hypothetical option where they wouldn’t be separated by an ocean if he- Suddenly, an answer popped into his head. “ _Is that what she was going to say? I don’t want to make her uncomfortable by assuming, but it seems most likely._ ”

He stared at the bathroom door for a few moments before a sense of calm resolve washed over him. He climbed out of bed and tossed the condom into the trash on his way towards the bathroom, but then stopped in his tracks. He didn’t want to have this conversation naked, particularly since Riley was obviously getting dressed. Grabbing his boxers from the end of the bed and his jeans from the floor, he quickly pulled them on, then lightly tapped his knuckles against the door.

“Liu, is everything okay?”

“I’m fine, Drake. Just cleaning up. If you want to take off, it’s fine. You shouldn’t keep Maxwell waiting.”

“Damn it, I don’t give a fuck about Maxwell right now. I want to talk to you. Can you please come out here?”

“I obviously don’t want to talk about it!”

“Fine, I’ll just wait here until you’re ready.”

“Drake, please, I’m embarrassed enough already.”

“Well, we don’t have to talk about whatever it was that sent you running for the bathroom. I think we should continue our earlier discussion instead.”

“What earlier discussion?”

“I’d really rather not do this through the door. Can I come in?”

The bathroom was silent for a moment, then the door swung open. Riley had gotten dressed and was now wearing a loose greenish top and some black leggings. She spun and walked further into her luxury bathroom, leaving Drake to follow her.

“Liu, would you please look at me?”

She pivoted, her arms folded across her chest, her head turned toward the tiled floor, but after a second, she jerked her chin up and stared him dead in the eye. Letting out a sigh, she asked, “What earlier discussion?”

“You asked me why I haven’t left the court. I want to give you a better answer.”

Her eyebrows shot upward as her eyes flew open, but just as quickly she narrowed them and pursed her lips, clearly trying to guess where this was going. Still, she hopped up on the counter and gestured towards the toilet. Drake sat on the offered seat, turning to face the counter. Riley was perched above him, toes brushing his knees as she swung her feet back and forth. “So, why haven’t you left court if you hate it so much?”

“Well, part of it, you know, is because I wanted to provide Liam with any support I could. But there’s more to it than that. The unknown scares the shit out of me, and I don’t know what I’d do if I wasn’t at the palace. I hadn’t even declared a major when I left university. You talk about how you wouldn’t be able to find a job in Cordonia; well, I’m pretty sure my resume is worse than yours.” Her leg swung higher at that, playfully kicking his shoulder. She rested her foot in his lap on its way back down, and he loosely grabbed her ankle, taking it as a reassuring sign that she didn’t avoid his touch.

“I’ve always been a roll with the punches, take life as it comes sort of guy. Sometimes that serves me well, but at other times, I think it has caused me to miss out on opportunities. For instance, there was this woman I was crazy into, but she was sort of dating my best friend. If she hadn’t gone out of her way to pursue me, I probably would have missed out on falling in love with a remarkable woman. And now I am wondering if I am supposed to be offering to move to New York to be with this woman, or if there is some reason that she thinks that’s a bad idea. Because I’m pretty sure she was going to ask me, but then she basically ran off, so I don’t know if she just was sick of dragging my sorry ass along and I’m supposed to man up, or if she decided she doesn’t want me here at all and I am making things even worse right now.”

“You aren’t making things worse,” she replied, shaking her head slightly, “I stopped asking you because it’s way too soon for that kind of discussion. You have a life, you have commitments, I can’t ask you to give that up for a woman you haven’t even known, much less been dating, for a year. It was just post-sex hormones that made me even consider mentioning it.”

“Liam was going to ask you to do the same thing. Why can’t you ask that of me?”

“It feels different for some reason, I can’t explain it.”

He reached for her other foot, pulled it onto his lap, and began massaging her calves. “If anything this is less of an ask than Liam’s. I’ve spent way more time with you than you have with him. Our love developed organically. We discussed whose home would be the best for both of us, and you made compelling arguments against mine.”

She smiled down at him, but shook her head again. “I don’t want to make things worse between you and Liam than they will be. I won’t ask you.”

“Fine, what if I’m offering?”

“Drake, be serious.”

“I am, Liu. If I’d come up with the idea to move to New York in the first place, would you be shooting it down?”

“Sure, how would you get a visa when we aren’t married and you don’t have a job?”

“I actually kept the dual citizenship my mother insisted on when I was younger.”

“Fine, how are you going to make a living? You just told me you are a rotten applicant.”

“Pretty sure there are more jobs in New York City alone than all of Cordonia. Keep going.” 

“I’m poor, you know.” Drake opened his mouth in disbelief to respond, but Riley held up a hand, silencing him. “I know you talk a big game about how different you are than the spoiled nobles, but you’ve lived in luxury for a long time now. Life with me is a lot more crappy coffee, lumpy mattresses, and long work days than private pool tables, horseback riding, and expensive whiskey. Plus, I may have run up some credit card debt over the past few months.”

“I’ve at least known a life with less money at some point, Liu. I’ll be able to adjust.”

“What will Liam do without you?”

“Things with Liam were always going to change after this social season. With him getting married, our relationship was going to adjust anyway.”

“Do you think he’ll still get married?”

“I don’t know, but that’s his decision to make. Look, I’ll be honest with you; leaving Liam will be tough. If there was a way I could stay by his side and yours, I would. But you told me clearly why you can’t come back to Cordonia. I love you, and I am willing to make this sacrifice to be with you.”

“It’s too big a sacrifice. I don’t want you to resent me a few months down the road.”

“Maybe that would be the case if you gave me an ultimatum, but you didn’t. Right now you are trying to put my happiness ahead of yours. Why can’t I do the same? Riley, relationships require work and compromise. I’m better able to make the adjustment here. Somewhere down the line, you’ll be better able to do so. Let me do this for us.”

“But leaving Liam…”

“Jesus, Liu, this isn’t the Middle Ages. Liam can text or call or Facetime me when he needs to speak to me. I can go to visit him, or he can fly here sometimes. It isn’t like I’ll never see him again. Plus, he’s gotten a lot more experience under his belt over the past several years. At some point, I was going to have to move out of the palace, because there is no way his kids are going to know me as ‘creepy Uncle Drake’ who has no home of his own. I’m just making the choice to move out sooner rather than later.”

“Maybe you should take a couple days to think about it. This is a huge decision and it might not be the best idea to make it immediately after…”

“We slept together?”

“Basically. Why don’t we talk again later this week, and if you still feel this way then-”

“No, if we’re doing this, we need to talk to Liam sooner rather than later.”

“Wait, this whole evening started with us fighting over the fact that I wanted to talk to Liam and you thought I should wait! What’s with the 180?”

“Wouldn’t be the only thing you convinced me was a good idea tonight,” he growled, letting his hands drift up her thighs.

Riley bit back a smile as her cheeks blushed red. “Seriously, though. Why the sudden urgency to talk to him?”

Drake let out a sigh. “He’s gonna propose to you if we don’t.”

“What?” Riley jumped off the counter, pacing across the floor. “Did he say something?”

“No, but I know him. Now that the scandal is behind you, he’s not going to waste any time.”

“But he’s still engaged to Madeleine. Even if he calls that off, won’t he want to wait a respectable amount of time for the press?”

“He’s sick of waiting, Liu. He wants to move forward, and unless we tell him about us, he’s going to to propose. Most likely before we leave New York.”

Riley chewed on her lip as she walked over to the sink. She stared into the mirror for what seemed like a minute before tilting her head and locking eyes with his reflection. “Were you going to give me any warning that this was coming?”

“That was what I meant to do tonight. Things, er, went a little differently than I planned.” Drake slowly walked over to Riley and stood behind her, never taking his eyes off hers in the mirror. “The plan was to tell you that I was sure that Liam was going to want to be with you and that he was probably going to propose in the next few days, and then I-”

“Drake Walker, did you come here tonight to make some stupid sacrifice and end things with me?” she asked as she spun to face him.

“No! I came here to tell you that I wanted to be with you, too. I wasn’t happy with the way I left things yesterday. I just wanted to make sure you knew where I stood. I figured if you were going to choose Liam, I had to at least lay all my cards on the table. Otherwise, I would have always wondered what might have happened.”

“God, you really are a moron. So your plan was to come to my room, give some little speech about how you loved me, but you friend loved me too, all of which I was going to just silently take in, and then you were just going to leave me to what? Make a pro/con list for each of you? What have I ever done to give you the impression that there was even a choice to be made?”

“It’s a big life decision, Liu. I thought you just told me that people need a couple of days to make those.”

“Ha ha,” she answered dryly, “But answer the question. What had I done that made you think I might choose to be with Liam instead of you?”

“Not so much you, more past experience,” he shrugged. “To be fair, I never thought you were leading me on, just more protecting yourself when Liam got engaged to Madeleine.”

Riley stepped forward, pressing her chest against his and reaching a hand up to cup his cheek. “I need you to hear me because I am only going to say this once. I know that you have some insecurities when it comes to Liam, but I need you to believe that I always tell you the truth. Have I ever had any problem expressing my honest opinion around you? Or seemed unsure when I spoke my mind?” He shook his head. “Then you need to take me at my word when I tell you something, about Liam or anything else. Otherwise, this is never going to work.”

“Okay, Liu. Okay.” He slipped his arms around her waist, holding her tight. She returned the embrace, rubbing a soothing hand between his shoulder blades. They stood in each other’s arms for a while, enjoying a brief moment of calm.

Eventually, Riley broke the silence, her words somewhat muffled against his collarbone, “So do you want to take some time to think about moving?”

Drake loosened his hold, needing to see her face. “How did you phrase it? What have I ever done to give you the impression that this is even a fucking choice?”

She rolled her eyes, but smiled up at him, “You might be paraphrasing there, but your point is well taken. So, we’re really doing this?”

“We’re really doing this. I’ll talk to Bastien, try to find some time to talk to Liam tomorrow, okay?”

“Together?”

“Sure Liu, together.” He leaned forward to kiss her, but his phone rang out.

_So no one told you life was gonna be this way._

“Shit, I never got back to Maxwell!” He leapt back from Riley, scrambling into the bedroom and searching for his phone.

“Sorry, Maxwell. I’m heading back to our room now. Can we talk when I get there?”

“Where have you been? Hana and I want to take Riley to Coney Island tomorrow. We need to make plans!”

“I was out for a walk. We’ll talk when I get back, okay?”

“Geez, what’s your hurry? Why are you trying to get rid of me? What are you up to?”

“I’ll see you soon. Goodbye, Maxwell.”

He felt two hands slide around his waist from behind as he hung up the phone. “Have to go be a best friend roomie?”

“He wants to surprise you with a trip to Coney Island tomorrow. I can talk him out of it if that’s too touristy for you.”

“No, that sounds fun. Convince him to invite Hana, too, okay?”

He spun in her arms, running a hand through her hair, “He claims this idea came from both of them, but that sounds like a lie to me.”

She laughed, “Keep him honest, Walker.” She bit her lip briefly before continuing, “Do you think you could convince him to go in the afternoon so we can talk to Liam first?”

“Heh, that does seem like the better order,” Drake replied as he found his t-shirt and pulled it on. “Do you have my shirt?”

Riley went to the bathroom to fetch it for him while Drake collected his wallet and put on his shoes. She passed it to him with a regretful smile.

“I wish you could stay here tonight.”

He tipped his head down to kiss her goodbye. “Soon, Liu.”


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After declaring their love and making major decisions about what comes next for the two of them, Drake and Riley have to share their news with their closest friends. But how will Liam respond? And what will Maxwell and Hana have to say?

Riley checked her phone for any texts or missed calls, but she had no new notifications. Trying to distract herself, she opened Pictagram and started scrolling through her feed, but she wasn’t really paying attention to anything. She was just too damn nervous. She went to her texts and opened the one Drake sent that morning.

_Talked to Bastien. Meeting with Liam at 1. I’ll come get you._

That was the only contact they’d had since last night. Riley was trying not to be clingy. Drake had never been much of a texter, and this one didn’t give her any reason to believe he’d changed his mind. Still, her previous dating experiences taught her to be cautious. She didn’t think Drake would lie to her, but things he agreed to immediately after the first time they had sex might not seem like a great idea in the light of day. She kept thinking back to the way he rolled away from her as soon as he finished, the fact that he didn’t come back to her room with Maxwell later in the evening to actually invite her to Coney Island. Maxwell had been enthusiastic, but it struck her as odd that Drake didn’t join him. Was there some reason he hadn’t wanted to see her again?

Of course, the visit from Maxwell was at least pleasant. Liam had also swung by her room last night, which was a much more uncomfortable experience. About 20 minutes after Drake left, Riley was watching some TV. She was skimming through the channels when she heard a knock on the door. Hoping it was Drake coming by to sneak a little more time together, she was shocked when Liam was standing on the other side of the door. He greeted her warmly, the adoration clear in his eyes. He had come by under the pretense of congratulating her on her success with Tariq, but Riley had been so panicked that she barely processed his words. She kept looking back, wondering if Liam had noticed wild state of her bedding, with blankets and the duvet cover spilling onto the floor. When he asked if he might come in, all she could think of was the fact that she had no idea where the condom wrapper was. Claiming exhaustion from the two flights, she shooed him away, but not before he alluded to having much more he wanted to discuss with her over the coming few days.

Riley was anxious that Liam might have ended things with Madeleine this morning. Although Drake said that he wasn’t sure if Liam would still marry her, Riley thought it was far more likely that they would stay together. After all, he had told her on several occasions that he would be happy to keep her as a professional mistress if she never cleared her name. He saw that as a viable, although less than ideal alternative, but didn’t the fact that he was comfortable with such an arrangement mean that he was going to stay with Madeleine unless he could be with Riley openly? If he already called off the engagement, Riley knew the guilt would be even worse. Madeleine wasn’t her favorite person, but Liam shouldn’t make his decision based on incorrect assumptions. She hoped that he wouldn’t move too quickly on that front.

Three sharp knocks broke her train of thought. Taking a deep breath, she walked to the door. Opening it, there stood Drake, hands shoved in his pockets, eyes downcast, but snapping up to lock with hers in an instant. “Hey, Liu,” he greeted, but he made no move to touch her.

“Hey.” The silence between them was tense, uncomfortable. She hated it.

“You ready?”

“Yes. Are you?”

“I don’t know that I’ll ever feel ready.”

“Drake, if you don’t want to-”

“No, no, we need to do this now.”

“Okay,” Riley grabbed her bag and pulled the door to her suite closed. As she walked down the hallway with Drake, she watched him out of the corner of her eye. The tension was rolling off him in unbearable waves. At the elevators, she pushed the call button, unsure if he would be able to do it. As they waited for the elevator, she watched him. He was fidgeting, bouncing on the balls of his feet, rubbing the back of his neck with his left hand, completely avoiding eye contact with her.

Once they entered the elevator and the door closed, giving them some relative privacy, she reached out and grabbed his hand. She had to offer to stop things now, forget the whole thing. She couldn’t stand seeing him this miserable and knowing he was doing it for her sake. But before she could speak, Drake threaded their fingers together, gripping her hand so tightly it was nearly painful and turned to her, smiling with a small nod. “ _We’re gonna get through this. We’re gonna do this together_ ,” she thought.

To Riley’s surprise, he continued to cling to her hand, even as the elevator doors opened, revealing the lobby. He led her briskly past the concierge and the front desk to the business center, which Liam was renting as his office for the trip, not letting go of her hand until they were right in front of the door. He paused for just a moment, then letting out a big sigh, he knocked three times.

“Come in.”

They entered side-by-side, leaving a larger space between them than usual by some unspoken agreement. Liam looked up from his laptop, eyes widening when he saw Riley there with Drake. “Lady Riley, I was unaware you would be joining us. What a lovely surprise!”

Riley saw Drake grimace at that. Trying to keep things light for as long as possible, she responded, “Yes, we thought it would be best to have this discussion with all three of us.”

“I have to confess I am at a loss as to what you two would wish to discuss with me. Is everything alright, Riley?”

“There’s nothing wrong. We wanted to talk about what comes next.”

Liam frowned at that, eyes darting between her and Drake, clearly trying to determine why Drake was involved in this conversation. Liam’s confusion oddly appeared to calm Drake somewhat, as he took a big breath before he said, “Liu and I talked last night. She’s going to stay here in New York.”

“What? Why wouldn’t you come back to Cordonia?”

“This is my home. This is where I belong,” she replied, unsure how to best continue. She had assumed they would tell Liam about the relationship first, but Drake had led with the move. They probably should have discussed a strategy before stumbling into the most uncomfortable meeting in history, but it was too late for that now.

“But I thought Cordonia had become your home! Riley, you belong _there_ , with all your friends.”

“Not all her friends will be there. I’m leaving court, and I’m staying here with her, Liam.” Drake’s head turned towards her as he finished, nodding slightly and brushing his fingers against the back of her hand. With that touch, they both moved to thread their fingers together. Riley knew somewhere in the back of her mind that holding hands was a coward’s way of telling Liam they were together, but she couldn’t deny how nice it felt to face the rest of this conversation united.

“Drake, what the hell is going…” Liam trailed off, taking in the sight of them and putting the pieces together. He swallowed and took a breath before he continued on, “Oh, I understand.”

“Liam, I’m so sorry,” Riley said, “We didn’t mean for this to happen, for you to get hurt.”

Liam shook his head, a thin smile on his face that didn’t come close to reaching his eyes. “No need to apologize. I care deeply about both of you, and I am pleased my friends found happiness with each other.”

Drake frowned at that, “Liam, are you sure-”

“I insist that we treat this as the happy news that it clearly is for you both. Forgive me, but may I ask how long this has been going on?”

Riley looked at Drake, sure his wide eyes were a mirror of hers. How long had this been going on, really? It was only official since last night, but it would be mad dishonest to frame it that way. Since their first kiss at the Beaumont estate? Since he saved her from Tariq? Since they got tipsy in Olivia’s wine cellar? Was it better to let him know that the attraction was burning under the surface at the beginning, gradually growing into something more as they got to know each other? Or would hearing that hurt him more than needed?

“Uh, I guess you could say things really started when Liu returned to court,” Drake eventually replied.

“ _I suppose that’s a reasonable answer_ ,” thought Riley. Liam paused at that response, his face showing no emotion. Riley had no idea if the fact that Drake just admitted to months of a relationship made things better or worse for Liam. The silence seemed to stretch for an eternity before he responded, “Thank you for telling me.”

No one seemed to know how to process that statement. It certainly didn’t make Liam’s emotional state any clearer to Riley. The three of them stood still, no one knowing what to say next. Riley felt like she should say more, either apologize profusely, or explain how much they struggled with their attraction initially, or reassure Liam that the moments she shared with him in the beginning were real and that she never meant to lead him on, but she didn’t know where to start. Drake wasn’t saying anything either. Eventually, Liam spoke again.

“Riley, would you mind terribly if I spoke with Drake alone for a few moments?”

“Er, no of course not.”

“Excellent, it shouldn’t take long.” He turned away from them at that, pulling out his phone. Riley looked at Drake, wondering why she was being dismissed. He gave her a small smile and nodded, running his thumb over the back of her hand.

“I’ll be right in the lobby when you guys are done, yeah?” she whispered.

“Okay, Liu.”

She squeezed his hand before letting go, walking to the door with one last look back at Drake before leaving him to handle whatever was between him and his best friend.

* * *

Liam turned around under the guise of checking his phone, giving Drake and Riley a moment of privacy. At least that’s how he hoped it appeared. Honestly, he needed a moment to collect himself. He never could have predicted that _this_ is what Drake had wanted to talk to him about when Bastien had asked for a meeting on his behalf with no more details. Well, that was not completely true, as Drake leaving court was one possibility he considered. But leaving to be with Riley? Who he had apparently being seeing for months? The thought had never occurred to him.

When he heard the door open, he turned back to Drake, catching a glimpse of Riley giving Drake a cheeky wave goodbye. The way she looked at his friend caught Liam off guard all over again. He averted his eyes, feeling as if he had interrupted them kissing. “ _She never looked at me that way_ ,” hissed a small voice in the back of his head, but he quickly shoved it aside. His personal feelings could be dealt with at a later time. For now, there were much more practical matters to be discussed.

As the door closed, Drake turned back to face Liam, a small smile quickly disappearing. “Liam, I’m so sorry. You have to know I fought this every step of the way, and I never thought she would choose to-”

Liam held up his hand, silencing Drake. “There is no need to apologize for falling for someone. You are my best friend, and I wish you all matters of happiness. If you have found that with Lady Riley, or rather just Riley, I am thrilled for the both of you.”

“But you cared for her. I should have never let-”

“Stop,” Liam ordered, much more formally than he normally would with just the two of them. Then again, Drake normally wouldn’t hold back like he just did, using the past tense, saying “cared for” instead of the far more accurate “love.” There was some unspoken agreement here to avoid the harshest of the realities. Forcing a smile, Liam continued, “I know you well enough to know that no harm was intended. I appreciate both of you taking the time to tell me about the nature of your relationship. But that is not the purpose of my wanting to speak to you alone. I thought you and I might go over some more practical details.”

Drake stared at him for a few moments, clearly trying to read his expression. But for the first time in years, Liam made sure his diplomatic mask up with him. Drake’s feelings were undoubtedly muddied by guilt. After all they had been through together over the years, the last thing Liam wanted to do was worsen that burden. So for now, he would keep his personal feelings to himself. Eventually, Drake stopped trying to read him. “What’s up?”

“First, I have to ask if there is a reason you and Riley are choosing not to return to Cordonia, other than my perceived discomfort. You two are certainly welcome to stay.”

“Riley is worried about how her life would look there, given her recent, er, _media attention_.”

“Ahh, she’s concerned about the optics of dating someone in my closest circle and how the press will react. I could easily find a job for her at court which should ease things. If you two stay in close contact with me, that should clearly demonstrate to the overly curious that there are no hard feelings and that we all remain friends.”

Drake shook his head. “You realize she hates most of the people at court, right?”

Liam hadn’t known that, but it was just one more item to add to the list of things he didn’t know about Riley Liu, the woman he thought he was going to marry up until the last 20 minutes, and it was far less shocking than the fact that she preferred Drake to him. “You also hate most of my court, but you’ve been happy, haven’t you?”

Drake’s silence to that question startled Liam. He never thought that Drake’s grumpiness reflected any true unhappiness. After a few seconds, Drake answered carefully, “My life at court brought me plenty to be happy about, but there were definitely some undesirable parts that I kinda just learned to ignore. My relative happiness isn’t the problem here. Riley needs a break from this world. She’s not used to it, and it’s weighing on her. I won’t ask her to take on that burden when we came up with a perfectly good alternative.”

Liam frowned, trying to determine if there was judgement built into that last statement. Drake might have been alluding to him asking Riley to take on the burden of the crown. He wasn’t used to looking for double meanings with Drake. With everyone else, sure, but not with him. Not until today. “ _Not until he snuck around with the woman I love for months_ ,” that voice pestered again.

“Come on, man. Don’t give me that look. Besides, you get enough flak for keeping around one under-qualified snarky commoner. We can’t expect you to find roles for two of us, neither of us with a college degree or any appropriate job skills for the court.”

He was teasing him, but Drake was clearly closing all further discussion on this topic. There would be no more talk of the two of them returning to Cordonia. Giving a light smile, Liam replied, “Touche. Let me at least get you two set up in an apartment.”

“She has an apartment already.”

“I know, but I want to make sure you are comfortable and have enough space for the both of you.”

“We’ll be fine, Liam.”

“I just hate the thought of the two of you here alone, and not to be insensitive, but your skill set might not translate to another job easily.”

“We don’t need your money. We aren’t charity cases,” Drake growled, his tone harsher than Liam had ever heard, at least directed at him.

“I didn’t mean to imply you were, I just want to help.”

“I am perfectly capable of providing for us, Liam.” There was an air of finality to his words. Liam had wanted to discuss things a little more and ask how closely Drake intended to stay in touch, but he knew that Drake was done with him, at least for now.

“Very well. If you need anything, you know where to find me.”

“We done here?”

“Of course.” He barely had the words out of his mouth when Drake had shoved back his chair and was stalking to the door. Liam wasn’t sure why his offer of financial assistance had upset him so much, and he couldn’t leave things like this. “Drake,” he called as he was about to open the door.

“Yeah?” he responded, not even turning around to face him.

“I _am_ very happy, for the both of you, but especially for you.”

With that, he did turn his head to look Liam in the eye. “Thanks,” he nodded, but then he was out the door. Sighing, Liam picked up his phone. That certainly could have gone better. There was a lot for him to process, but that would have to wait. For now, he had to make some calls, starting with canceling the boat to the Statue of Liberty for tomorrow night.

* * *

Riley was almost giddy this afternoon, Drake noticed as she led him onto the “Q” train. Clearly, she was enjoying being on the other side of telling Liam about their relationship. Drake wished he could fully embrace her joy, but nothing about the conversation with Liam sat right with him. He should have apologized and explained himself more. He should have asked if Liam was going to be okay. He should have let him know that he wanted to remain friends. Instead, everything had been awkward and formal. In fact, things really couldn’t have gone much worse seeing as Liam was never going to be the type to get angry or upset.

Of course, Drake was the one to get upset, even though he had no ground to stand on from that perspective. Why didn’t he just shut up in there? Liam had been trying to be a generous friend, he knew this intellectually. But when Liam offered to pay for an apartment, all Drake felt was Liam throwing out how much more he could offer Riley, as if to rub it in his face. So he snapped, even though he was the one who was causing Liam pain. And Liam just took it, because that was his role. Drake was supposed to be the one he didn’t have to fill that role around, though. “ _Man, I really fucked this up_ ,” he thought.

“Okay, what’s wrong?” Riley cut through his thoughts, again proving her uncanny ability to read his moods.

“Nothing. It’s nothing.”

“Well that’s a lie. You can either tell me and get it over with, or I’ll just have to keep pestering you until you cave and tell me anyway. It’ll save a lot of time if you just tell me now.”

He sighed, “Things were just weird with Liam, that’s all. Not that I expected it to go amazingly or anything, but I just felt awkward with him.”

“So now you’re going to brood over it all afternoon?”

“I don’t _brood_ , Liu.”

“Fine, you’re going to be in a funk over it all afternoon?” she teased.

“Not all afternoon, maybe just for the train ride.”

She laughed at that, placing her hand on his knee and rubbing soothing circles with her thumb. “Are you committed to this bad mood for the entire trip?”

“What else did you have in mind?”

She smiled, glancing down at his lips before she leaned into him gently. He closed his eyes as their lips met. Things felt much slower and more tender than they ever had before. He no longer felt compelled to snatch every moment with her as if it were their last. After a while, he pulled away and smiled back at her.

“Fine, you’ve convinced me.”

“Good, no more moping?”

“Ugh, I think I preferred brooding. Anyway, I figured out how we can fill this time.”

“Oh yeah?” she smirked, raising an eyebrow and leaning in close again.

“God woman, keep it in your pants,” he joked, “You need to teach me this metro system.”

She smacked his chest playfully, pulling out her phone. “Fine, lesson one: it’s the train, not the metro. Lemme pull up the map. To start, uptown trains head north in Manhattan, downtown trains head south…”

* * *

“You ready for this, Walker?” Riley asked, holding out her hand as they walked off the train. After a crash course on the MTA, Riley had brought up telling Maxwell and Hana that they were together today. She had a point; after talking to Liam, there was no reason to not let them know.

“Yeah, yeah.” He grabbed her offered hand as they walked towards the spot they were meeting Hana and Maxwell. Truth be told, he was a little nervous about telling the two of them. Well, not Hana so much. She probably had training in reading body language or something and figured it out months ago. Plus, she was just too kind to be anything other than fully supportive. Maxwell, on the other hand, might not be thrilled. Not only had Drake explicitly lied to him at numerous points when they were sneaking around, but Riley’s rejection of Liam would be a pretty big financial blow for the Beaumonts.

His worries proved to be for nothing as he heard a shriek of “OH MY GOD!” He and Riley turned to see the commotion and were nearly tackled as Maxwell threw his arms around both of them.

“I’m so happy for you guys! And I’m so happy for me that I can finally tell you guys how happy I am!”

Riley laughed as Maxwell pulled just her into a tight hug, but something about what Maxwell said stuck out to Drake.

“What do you mean, ‘can finally’ tell us?”

“I knew you guys were together. I swore that I wouldn’t say anything until you guys told me about it, but it’s been sooooo hard not telling you how happy I am for you two!”

“You knew?” Riley asked, still laughing, “Guess we weren’t as careful as we thought. Hana, did you know too?”

“I had my suspicions, but I wasn’t convinced until Shanghai,” said Hana as she walked up to the group, a large smile on her face, “Let me join Maxwell in saying how happy I am for the both of you.”

“Shanghai? You’ve known since Shanghai and didn’t tell me? I’m hurt, Hana.”

“I’m sorry, Maxwell. I figured if they wanted people to know, they would have told them.”

“Hold up, Maxwell. We were in Shanghai less than a week ago. How long have you known about Drake and me?”

“Fine, I’ve only known for two days. But I still wanted to tell you guys I was happy for you!”

Everyone laughed, strolling along the paths crowded with tourists. Drake reclaimed Riley’s hand as they walked among the stalls and vendors. The weight of his conversations with Liam finally started to peel back as he took in the sights and smells of Coney Island. Even Maxwell’s inane insistence at getting their palms read was tolerable. He hadn’t realized how long it had been since he had spent time doing something just for fun with a group of people he actually liked and could be completely honest around. It felt right. It felt real.

After several hours of rides and games, they decided to grab some dinner. While Riley and Hana went to go buy drinks and funnel cakes, Maxwell tagged along with Drake to the hot dog stand.

“Okay, I’ve been dying to know when you guys got together.”

“I don’t know.”

“ _You don’t know?_ Drake, if you don’t want to talk about it, just tell me.”

“I’m serious, Maxwell. I didn’t really know what to tell Liam when he asked either.”

“How did that go, having to tell Liam?”

“ _That_ I don’t want to talk about.”

“Okay,” Maxwell paused, but then continued, “I do have to say one thing there, though. I think no matter how weird things are with him now, it’ll get better. You’re his best friend, and with a little time, things will get back to normal.”

Drake passed cash over to the cashier as Maxwell grabbed the hot dogs. He must have taken Drake’s silence as encouragement, because he kept going, “He’s gonna see how happy you guys are together, I know it.”

“Okay, Maxwell.”

“Fine, I’ll stop. I’m just so happy for both of you.”

“Why? No offense, but isn’t this not great news for you and Bertrand?”

“I should have never put that pressure on Riley. Look, back during the social season, she told me she was developing feelings for someone else, and I wasn’t a good enough friend. I dismissed her and encouraged her to focus on Liam. I should have listened to her instead of worrying about how Bertrand would react. So, when I found out about you guys, I knew I had to do better this time. That’s why I told her not to worry about House Beaumont and our money issues and instead focus on her happiness at the UN party.”

Drake turned to Maxwell, but he wasn’t finished, “I needed to do better by you, too. Look, I know there was no easy answer for how I should have handled the Savannah situation, but with you two, there is. I’m on your side, okay?”

Drake swallowed roughly, then clapped Maxwell on the shoulder, “Thanks.”

Maxwell smiled as they joined the women at a table, “Of course, so if anyone back at court messes with you two, just let me know. No one gets to talk smack about my friends.”

“About that…” Drake started as he sat down next to Riley.

Riley looked at him, and nodded before she said, “Us being together is only half of our news.”

“You’re pregnant?” Maxwell shrieked.

“God no!” “Hell no!” both he and Riley answered simultaneously.

“Sorry, just was thinking about Savannah. Carry on.”

“I’m not coming back to Cordonia with the court. I’m staying here.”

“And I’m moving here with her.”

“What? Are you serious? Riley, Drake, you’re really leaving us?” asked Hana.

“It’s for the best, Hana. I had a life here before this all started. I can’t just hang around Cordonia indefinitely without a job.”

“But couldn’t you get a job in Cordonia? I don’t want to lose my best friend.”

“Hana, unlike you, I don’t have 72 things I’m an expert at, and an unqualified foreigner who jilted the king probably doesn’t make the best job applicant.”

Hana reached her hand across the table and grabbed Riley’s. “I’m going to miss you so much.”

“I’m gonna miss you, too. But we can Facetime and text and visit each other, okay? This is just something Drake and I have to do.”

“I don’t think you’ve ever been this quiet, Maxwell,” said Drake.

“Sorry, I was just processing everything. This is huge news! What do you guys need?”

“I might need to list you as a job reference since you made me quit my last one with one hour’s notice,” said Riley.

“Done. What else?”

“You really aren’t going to try to talk us out of this?” asked Drake.

“I’m on your side, remember?”

Maxwell stared at Drake, nodding with more seriousness than Drake had ever seen in him before. “ _Who would have thought that Maxwell Beaumont would become one of my most trusted friends?_ ” he thought, nodding back.

After they all finished eating, the sun was beginning to set.

“Let’s ride the Ferris wheel before we head back,” suggested Hana.

“I call riding with Riley!” yelled Maxwell, who burst out laughing when Drake shot him an annoyed look. “Just kidding. Teasing you is too easy.”

Riley laughed, throwing her arm around Maxwell’s shoulders. “Maybe you two should ride together then. Take advantage of being best friend roomies while you can.”

“Do not encourage him, Liu.”

“Your girlfriend makes a good point, Drake. What do you say, roomie? Ferris wheel buddies?”

“I hate all of you,” Drake said, but he couldn’t hide his smile as Riley winked at him. He was going to miss these moments. But if Riley needed to leave Cordonia, giving them up would be a small sacrifice.

* * *

It wasn’t too late when they arrived back at the hotel, laughing and passing around a bag of caramel corn that Maxwell bought as they were leaving Coney Island.

“Do you guys have any plans for tomorrow?” asked Hana as they stood near the elevators.

“I think I might go check out more of New York City. We only have one day left here and there is so much left to see. In fact, I might go see some more tonight and not come back to the hotel for two hours,” said Maxwell, sending looks at Drake that were far from subtle.

“Maxwell…” Drake warned.

“Fine, three hours. I think that should be more than enough time.”

“Maxwell!”

“Four hours, then, which is really excessive if you ask me, but-” Riley darted up to Maxwell and whispered something in his ear before stepping back next to Drake. “On second thought, I’m pretty tired, so maybe I’ll just go straight to bed, and because I’m so tired, I’ll probably never know what time you get back to the room, Drake. You know, because I’ll be in such a deep sleep. Come on, Hana. I’ll escort you to your room like the _good friend_ that I am.” They said goodnight to their friends as they stepped into the elevator.

“Wanna grab a drink at the bar?” asked Drake, gesturing the the hotel lounge behind him.

“We could do that, or…”

“Or what?”

Riley stepped right up to him, grabbing his shoulder as she leaned up to whisper in his ear, “Or we could take advantage of the luxury hotel suite that I so thoughtfully reminded Maxwell I have all to myself.”

Drake swallowed roughly. He wanted nothing more, but there was issue. “Unless you want to go catch Maxwell and ask him for a condom, that isn’t really an option.”

Riley burst out laughing, “Come on, if you’re gonna be a New Yorker, it’s time for your first Duane Reade run.” And with that, she pulled him back outside, hands interlocked as she navigated them down the sidewalk. Drake had no idea what Duane Reade was, but he was ready to follow her anywhere.


	4. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With their relationship out in the open, it’s time for Drake and Riley to say goodbye to their friends and to enjoy one last hurrah as a group before everyone else heads back to Cordonia.

Sun filtered through the curtains, slowly pulling Drake awake. His arm was still slung over Riley’s hip, although she had rolled over onto her stomach at some point during the night. He couldn’t remember the last time he woke up in bed with someone. Had it really been with Natalie back at university? That couldn’t be right. He had probably spent the whole night with Maggie at some point before that all went to hell. Either way, it had definitely been years.

Well, he supposed that wasn’t technically true. When Riley snuck into his tent while camping they had spent most of the night together. However, he was pretty sure that setting a phone alarm for 5 am so she could head back to her tent without the others knowing where she slept went against the spirit of waking up together. Besides, he had stopped things before they went too far then. Unlike yesterday, where neither one of them had any reason to slow things down.

Last night was so much better than their first time. Not that their first time was bad or anything. Not at all. There was just a lot of emotional baggage to unpack, and combined with it being their first time together, Drake was sure they both held back. But last night… well, it might have been the best he’d ever experienced. Starting with their mutual passion that only got them as far as the couch before their clothes came off, followed by soaking in the Jacuzzi tub, which lead to him on his knees on the bathroom floor as she perched on the counter, head thrown back and hands yanking on his hair, to somehow finally making it to the bed, where he had buried himself in her as he cradled her back against his chest. It had all somehow been both more intense and more tender simultaneously. They had both been more vocal. More passionate. It was incredible.

Rolling over before he got too worked up over his memories, he grabbed his phone. 8:42 am. He hadn’t slept in this late in years either. He pulled up the Cordonian News Network site. Just an update on the storms in Portavira; there was no new speculation on Liam, Madeleine, or Riley, other than one opinion piece that mentioned that a postponement of the royal wedding was likely in light of the recent developments.

Suddenly, a video about the emergency response in Portavira started autoplaying. Before Drake could close out the page, Riley’s eyes fluttered open and squinted at him. “Don’t tell me you’re a morning person,” she mumbled into her pillow, burrowing further under the covers.

“Liu, it’s almost 9 am.”

“Exactly, leave me alone for another hour or so.”

Chuckling, Drake reached over and pulled the menu out the the nightstand drawer. “What do you want for breakfast?”

“My boyfriend to stop bugging me.”

Hearing that word coming off her lips tugged at something inside him. They hadn’t exactly had a ‘define the relationship’ talk, and obviously that title was less significant than the fact that he was moving to a new continent, but he couldn’t help it; it just made him happy to hear. However, the rumble of his stomach focused him back on his mission for food.

“Yeah, if I knew you wouldn’t just eat all of my breakfast, that might be an option. Pick something out, Liu.”

“An omelette, you ass,” she replied, shooting a middle finger up in his general direction.

“With pepper jack and ham?”

“Yes, now shut up.”

Not wanting to push his luck, Drake slipped on his boxers and went to use the phone in the seating area of Riley’s suite, pulling the door shut behind him. After he called down to order their breakfast, he turned on the TV, channel surfing absentmindedly. He heard the shower start, meaning Riley must have decided to get up after all. He checked the time on his phone, wondering if he had time to join her before the room service arrived, but a knock on the door answered that question. Drake threw open the door, “You can put the food on the-” but stopped abruptly when he saw who was at the door. It wasn’t room service. It was Liam.

Liam’s eyes flew open wide, but he quickly composed himself. “Good morning, Drake.”

“You’re not room service.”

“No, I’m not. Is Riley around? I have an invitation to extend to the both of you.”

“She’s in the shower, but, ahhh, why don’t you come on in.”

Drake stepped aside, allowing Liam into the room. He scrambled, trying to think up an excuse for why he was in Riley’s suite. In his boxers. While Riley was in the shower. “ _Well, Liam would have to be the planet’s biggest idiot to buy any excuse at this point_ ,” he thought, mentally chiding himself for even thinking he could sell this as anything other than spending the night here. “ _At least this isn’t how he found out._ ”

There were a few moments of awkward silence. Drake tried to avoid eye contact, but all that did was allow him to focus on the clothes scattered across the floor. It was bad enough that he clearly woke up here, but the fact that both their shirts and pairs of jeans were off before they even reached the bedroom felt like they were rubbing things in his face. Drake scrambled to grab their clothing as he said, “Er, why don’t you have a seat? I’m gonna let Liu know you’re here and uhhh, put on some clothes.”

Liam chuckled. “I’m sorry, I should have realized you would be here. This does explain why Maxwell was insistent on talking to me in the hallway, however.”

Drake smiled and rubbed the back of his neck. Liam being polite about this was so much worse than if he had just punched him or something. He had every right to be angry with them, but of course he wasn’t. Because that’s not what Liam did. Not knowing what else to say, he turned toward the bedroom, opening the door the least amount possible.

Once he closed the door, he let out a shaky sigh. He went to knock on the bathroom door when it flew open. Riley was there, one towel wrapped around her body and another around her head. She let out a little yelp as her eyebrows shot up before she laughed, “Hey, breakfast here yet?”

“No, but Liam is.”

“What?”

“Yeah, I opened the door, thinking it was room service, but it was him.”

“Were you wearing that?”

“No, Liu. I was fully dressed, let Liam in, then stripped down to my boxers.”

“You don’t have to be an ass about it. Why is he here?”

“He said he has an invitation for us.”

“What kind of invitation?”

“I’m not sure. But maybe if we both put on some clothes, we could go find out.”

Drake continued getting dressed in yesterday’s clothes, and Riley quickly joined him, throwing on a black tank top and a pair of jeans while simultaneously toweling her hair. In less than a minute, they were both at least presentable. Shoving open the door, they entered the seating area, where Liam was handing a waiter some cash from this wallet.

“You don’t have to do that. I can cover his tip,” said Drake, but Liam merely shook has head as he waved him off.

“Nonsense, I was the one who interrupted your breakfast. Riley, good morning to you.”

“Hey, Liam,” she replied. The waiter bustled around, placing the food and coffee on the small table. He kept glancing at them all, clearly wondering what the dynamic here was, but didn’t say anything other than a polite “Enjoy your meal,” as he left the room. The silence continued after the door shut until Liam took the lead.

“So, I don’t want to keep you from your food, but we would like to host a farewell dinner for you two this evening.”

“We?” Drake asked.

“Yes, Drake. Madeleine and I. We both want to send you off properly. I’ve made reservations at 7:30 at Craft.”

“With just you two?”

“Oh no, I’ve invited a few others from court: Bertrand and Maxwell, Lady Hana, Lady Olivia, Lady Penelope, and Lady Kiara. Will you two be able to make it?”

Drake sighed. Why couldn’t Liam be a little bit angry or bitter or show some damn emotion? He didn’t really want to spend time at a stuffy restaurant with half of those people, but with Liam being so gracious, how could he say no to this gesture? “Of course.”

Riley smiled, “We wouldn’t miss it.”

“Excellent! Well, I will leave you to your breakfast before it gets cold, and I will see you this evening.” And then Liam was out the door with a warm smile, leaving Drake to wonder if there was any way he could feel like more of a dick when it came to the man he claimed was his best friend.

* * *

After breakfast, Drake ran down to his and Maxwell’s room, which was surprisingly empty. He quickly showered and changed, grateful to any supernatural forces that might exist that he was able to avoid Maxwell’s inevitable questions. He was about to head back to Riley’s room when he caught sight of his luggage. Should he pack up his stuff and bring it to her room? He didn’t want to seem presumptuous, but it would save them a lot of time in the morning. Plus, they would be moving in together tomorrow.

Actually, he wasn’t sure that they would be living together. They had never really talked about it. He had kind of assumed, but he had never asked, and she had never mentioned it. Maybe she expected him to find a place of his own. Come to think of it, there were a _lot_ of things they hadn’t talked about. Where were they going to live until her subleaser moved out? Hell, where was her apartment? How was he going to get his stuff in Cordonia packed and shipped over? What should he do with his parent’s house? Should he sell it? Offer it to Savannah? Hang onto it in case this all exploded in a disastrous mess?

Drake sank onto the foot of his bed, running his hand through this hair and letting out a rough sigh. There was so much they hadn’t talked about at all. Practical, important things. Shit, they needed to get some things sorted out. They didn’t even have a place to sleep after tonight.

He slowly walked out of his room and rode the elevator back to her suite, his mind spiraling through lists of things they needed to do. Find a place to stay. Figure out if they would be living together. Look into whether her lease allowed dogs. Get jobs. Transfer his money to a bank that had branches in the US. Talk to Bastien about shipping him his belongings.

At some point, he reached Riley’s room, more by muscle memory than any conscious effort. He was vaguely aware that he should knock, but all his brain was able to do was run down the never-ending list of details they had never bothered to address. Had they even thought this through at all?

* * *

The sun was out without a cloud in the sky, leaving the air feeling warm in spite of the fall day. Riley was glad that she had convinced Drake to take a walk in the park. There probably wouldn’t that many more days this year that were this nice. Plus, it was obviously doing him some good, getting into some green space for at least a little bit. He was definitely calmer than he had been when she found him outside her suite. He had been standing there, staring at her door. As she guided him into her room, a list of concerns had spilled out of him, starting with where they would live tomorrow and getting as far as international shipping rates before she was able to interrupt him.

Sure, she understood that they had a lot to solve, to work through. But she had no doubt that they would be able to take care of things together. They had already dealt with the worst of it by telling Liam. Everything else was just details they could work out as they needed. She had texted her subleaser to give him 30 days notice, but also asked if he would be able to vacate any sooner. They were clearly on the right track.

“Do you want me to find my own place?”

His question interrupted her thoughts. Clearly, he hadn’t stopped worrying.

“Do you want your own place?”

Drake shrugged. “Not really, but I don’t want to impose. If you want to take things slow or whatever, I get it.”

Riley tugged on Drake’s hand, pulling him to a stop. “You don’t have to get your own place unless you want to, but before you make your decision, you should know that I have a small studio, like less than 400 square feet small.”

“Square feet means nothing to me, Liu.”

She laughed, pulling out her phone to translate it into square meters when she saw someone approaching them over Drake’s shoulder. “Bastien’s here.”

Drake turned around and nodded in greeting as Bastien smiled and waved.

“Hi Bastien, did Drake tell you we were here?”

“No, you are not hard to follow. I would remind you about the need for secrecy, but you two seem to have taken a different approach.”

Drake shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry I didn’t tell you our plans earlier. I had to talk to Liam first.”

“I understand. Can the three of us get some lunch and talk about some logistics?”

A half hour later, they were settled around a table in a small cafe, enjoying their heros.

“Obviously, the crown can’t extend any security to the two of you if you are living in a different country.”

“Do we need any security? Drake and I are just regular citizens.”

“Yes, but you’ve attracted a lot of media coverage over the past few months. There are no known threats against you, but I would advise you to stay vigilant, particularly until the wedding buzz dies down.”

“I assume this is directed at me, since I’m guessing you trust Drake.”

Both men turned to look at her. Eventually Bastien nodded, acknowledging her point.

“Well, don’t worry. I’ve been on my own for years. I can handle myself.”

“It’s not just the physical threats, Ms. Liu. It would be wise to exercise discretion as you still might be followed by paparazzi or PIs for some time.”

“What do you mean ‘still,’ Bastien?” asked Drake. “Is Liu being followed now?”

Bastien sighed, “A PI approached me with some photos of the two of you a couple of days ago. I was able to make them disappear. My best guess is that either Madeleine or her father hired them, in which case I expect it to stop, but I can’t promise they won’t be back.”

Drake sighed heavily, running his hand over his face.

“Drake, I’m sorry. I always hoped when you left the court that you would be able to do so peacefully and quietly.”

Riley watched as Bastien placed his hand on Drake’s shoulder. She felt like she was intruding on a personal moment, one meant for just the two of them. She pulled out her phone to give them a sense of privacy and saw she had missed a text from her subleaser.

_np, been dropping hints to bf about moving in together, thx for excuse, can be out in 10 days_

She glanced up, but Drake and Bastien had both returned to their meals, so she figured she wasn’t interrupting.

“Drake, I just heard from my subleaser. He’s gonna move in with his boyfriend and said he can be out in a week and a half.”

“So what’ll we do until then?”

“We can get an Airbnb.”

Drake nodded, then faced Bastien. “Hate to cut this short, but we have a lot of things to take care of. Come on, Liu. Time to teach me what the hell an Airbnb is.”

Riley laughed as they stood up to leave, but Bastien stopped them.

“In case I don’t see you before the flight back, I want to wish you two the best of luck. Drake, I’m so glad you found someone who makes you so happy. Ms. Liu, I’m counting on you to take care of him.”

“Bastien…” said Drake with an eye roll, but Bastien kept going.

“You may not think you need someone to look after you, but I’m not going to let your father down now. I know you are in good hands and that the two of you will be there for each other. Drake, it has been an honor.” With that, they shook hands, before pulling into a hug.

“Goodbye, Bastien.”

“Take care, you two.”

“Oh, one last thing!” called Riley, as they walked to the cafe’s door, “Can he list you as a job reference?”

Bastien chuckled, “Of course.”

* * *

Following an afternoon filled with Airbnb bookings and resume writing, Riley and Drake entered Craft for dinner, approaching the hostess. When they asked if anyone from the Liam party had arrived, they were quietly ushered over into a separate room. Of course Liam had rented out a private room for this dinner. _Of course_.

They were quickly greeted by Liam and a very enthusiastic Maxwell. As Maxwell dragged Riley over toward Hana, Liam turned to Drake. “Shall we head to the bar?”

A couple of whiskeys and two courses later, Drake noticed that most of his discomfort had melted away. He had to hand it to Liam, the bar was well-stocked, and the food was damn good, with steaks and actual appropriate portion sizes. The private room was nice, too. It made it all feel homier, somehow. Of course, the company was still a mixed bag, as at that moment Olivia sat down next to him.

“Whiskey and steak on someone else’s dime. Is this what you imagine heaven to be?” she said, slightly slurring her words.

“Pretty sure that you and heaven are mutually exclusive concepts.”

“That’s rich coming from the guy who stole his best friend’s girl.”

Drake tensed at that. Olivia was clearly drunk, but it’s not like she ever hesitated taking digs at him even when sober. Usually they weren’t so on target when she was intoxicated, though.

“I don’t know what she sees in you,” she continued, “She could have had _him_ , and instead she threw that away.”

“You’re a real asshole. You know that, though, don’t you?”

“We’re both bound for hell, Drake. At least I own it.”

Drake stood up, done with Olivia’s prodding. She was clearly looking to provoke him, and he didn’t want to give her the satisfaction. He went to the bar to get a refill. “ _Just one more night with them. Just one more night_ ,” he repeated to himself, trying to stay calm.

After the waitstaff brought out the desserts, people began getting up and milling around the room. Maxwell hooked up his phone to the speaker system and turned on some music as Riley went to the bar to get them both refills, returning with a whiskey on the rocks for him and a vodka soda for herself. She perched on the edge of the table, handing him his drink.

“How did Liam throw this all together in one day?”

“It’s amazing what money and a royal title can get you.”

“Seriously though, he couldn’t have planned a more ‘Drake’ farewell without locking you in a distillery by yourself.”

“Come on, Liu. This little shindig is for both of us.”

“Maybe the guest list is, but this restaurant, the bar selection, the menu choices? That was his going away gift to _you_.”

Before Drake could fully process that statement, Kiara approached them both, a champagne flute clutched tightly in her hand.

“Bonsoir Riley, Drake.”

“Hey Kiara,” Drake nodded.

“I just wanted to wish you good luck. Court won’t be the same without you two. Also, I apologize if my attention toward Drake made either of you uncomfortable. I never would have flirted if I had known you two were together, and I would hate to part on bad terms with you.”

“Relax, Kiara. It’s fine,” Drake said. “ _Always the diplomat, looking to clear the air,_ ” he thought. Kiara smiled and nodded before walking over to Penelope. Riley remained oddly silent, though, and seemed to be deep in thought.

“Hey, you alright?” he asked, reaching over to touch her hand.

“Yeah, just thinking about how jealous I would get when I would see her with you. Now, it all seems so stupid. She didn’t know.”

Drake laughed, “Well, it was an adorable stupid, if that makes you feel any better.”

Riley shook her head. “I’m gonna go dance with Maxwell. Wanna join me?”

“Maybe later, once I get a few more of these in my system,” he said, holding up his glass. Riley smiled and walked away, but not before throwing a glowing grin at him.

The next few hours were a blur of well wishes, music, dancing, and drinks. Lots of drinks. At some point, Drake found himself seated at the table with Liam, both of them with a whiskey in hand.

“I have something for you,” Liam said, sliding an envelope over.

Drake cautiously opened the envelope. Inside were two round trip tickets to Cordonia.

“For the wedding. I hope you’ll still be my best man.”

Drake drained the rest of his whiskey before looking at Liam. “Of course I will. I wasn’t sure if you would still want me, all things considered.”

“You’re my best friend, Drake. I need you there, no matter who your plus one is.”

Drake swallowed carefully. He didn’t deserve this man as a friend. He clapped his hand on Liam’s back, debating to ask him if he really wanted to marry _Madeleine_ of all people. He hadn’t asked since the start of the engagement tour, but given the circumstances, he wasn’t sure if he _could_ ask Liam anymore, at least without being cruel. But before he could broach the topic, he saw Hana stumbling towards them, heavily supported by Riley. Riley’s cheeks were flushed a light pink, but that was nothing on Hana’s which were glowing a bright red.

“How did you not know you get Asian flush?” laughed Riley as Hana clung to her as they walked over to the table.

“I don’t know. Riley, I’ve never felt like this before. Why do I feel soooo fuzzy?”

“You’re drunk, Hana. Have you never been drunk before?”

“That’s prepos-, presspost-, preproster-, you know what I mean. I drink all the time.”

Riley locked eyes with Drake, giving him a smirk that he was sure matched his own grin as he pulled out a chair for Hana. He said, “But usually you just sip champagne or wine. How many drinks did you have tonight?”

“Drake! You’re here!” Hana shrieked, running into the chair in her attempt to give him a hug. He caught her as she flung her arms around his shoulders.

“I’m here. Why don’t you sit down?” Drake gently guided Hana into a chair with Liam’s help before turning to Riley, “She’s trashed. How many drinks did she have?”

“I have no clue, but she and Maxwell were doing shots.”

“I’m right here you know. Drake, Drake, come here. Drake, I have something I have to tell you.”

Drake crouched down next to her, “What’s up, Hana?”

“I think I’m drunk. Don’t tell anyone though, Riley says I have Asian flush.”

“Asian flush isn’t something to be embarrassed about.”

“But she doesn’t have it,” she said, pointing wildly in the direction of Riley, “and neither does he!” she added as she caught sight of Liam.

“Lady Hana, not everyone with Asian heritage gets Asian flush,” said Liam with a smile.

Hana seemed puzzled by this statement. “Thatsnotfair,” she slurred, resting her head on the table.

“I think this might signal the end of the festivities. I’ll call for some cars and settle up if you two don’t mind keeping an eye on her?” said Liam, pulling out his cell phone.

Drake nodded. It felt like old times, the two of them handling their liquor better than the rest. Making sure the group got home in one piece. It was nice to know that some things don’t change.

* * *

Madeleine took another sip of her martini. Looking out at the small group of people gathered, she tried to squash the unpleasant feeling in her gut. This should be a happy night for her. She was not only getting to say goodbye to Riley Liu, but she was taking Drake Walker with her, which was icing on the cake. Not only was she not going to have to worry about hiding a mistress from the press from the start, but the annoying best friend she had never dreamed she would be able to get rid of was leaving of his own accord. It was the definition of two birds with one stone.

She really had very little to worry about at this point. The wedding was rapidly approaching, and with Riley removing herself from the equation, her fears that Liam was going to change his mind were minimal. However, she couldn’t quite shake the feeling that everything was about to fall apart.

“ _When I’m on that plane tomorrow and she isn’t, then I will feel better,_ ” she thought as she downed the rest of her drink. She strolled over to the bar, passing Penelope showing some inane dog video to Maxwell on her phone. She flagged down the bartender, standing next to Bertrand who was staring at the bottom of his empty glass.

“What a joyous occasion this must be for you. You get to watch your house’s only chance at relevance throw that in the trash for _Drake Walker_. You must be so proud of Miss Liu.”

“Lady Riley had to follow her heart. I would have to be a completely callous individual to blame her for that.”

“Someone’s being sentimental. Guess you did always have a soft spot for the Walker family, though.”

Bertrand sighed heavily at that, but wouldn’t engage. Madeleine turned away. That hadn’t been anywhere near as fun as she hoped. Resting against the bar as she waited for her martini, she shook her head. Hana seemed to be completely wasted. Why was her court always so incompetent? Striding over, she was surprised to be intercepted by Riley.

“What do you want?”

“I was just coming over to offer you more dessert. The chocolate mousse was delicious, wasn’t it? Oh wait, you’re _allergic_ , how could I forget”

“I don’t have time to deal with you. Let me go speak to Hana.”

“No. You don’t get to call her out for getting drunk at a private venue. You were just as drunk at your bachelorette party.”

Madeleine rolled her eyes and stepped to the side to walk around her, but Riley matched her, taking a step closer so they were almost touching.

“Hana is a nice person and you have been unbelievably cruel to her, but that stops now. You get to be Queen; don’t ruin it by being a raging bitch.”

“Yes, I _do_ get to be Queen, which means my court needs to reflect my station. You don’t really get a say in how I treat them, now do you?”

“You’re right, I don’t have a say. But you also don’t have any power over me anymore. So, just remember who put you in this position - a common American waitress who walked away from the game with a winning hand.”

“This is all a game to you?”

“Not at all, I just think it would do you well to remember that the only reason you are getting everything you wanted is because of me. Goodbye Madeleine. I wish you a lifetime of _love_ and _happiness_.” With that, she flounced away, joining Hana without a single glance back. Madeleine sighed, checking the time. In less than 10 hours, she would be rid of that thorn in her side for good.

* * *

The sun was barely rising as numerous town cars lined up in front of the hotel. Most of the court’s flights were very early, whether they were flying private or commercial, so early that other than the black vehicles piling up in front of the hotel, there was nearly no other traffic. It was the quietest Riley had ever seen Manhattan. 

Riley and Drake had woken up to see everyone off and were trying to stay out of the way as drivers began loading designer suitcases and garment bags into their trunks. They had come down early to leave time for goodbyes, but it seemed that everyone was running late this morning, at least everyone who was at the dinner party last night. Riley wasn’t exactly surprised as the alcohol had flowed pretty liberally.

At that moment, Bertrand came bustling through, talking briskly on his cell, “I told you, the charter is under Lee, but the passenger I need removed has a last name of Liu. Why is this so confusing?”

Maxwell was trailing behind him with the bellhop. He yawned as he walked over toward them. “Man, Bertrand has been going ballistic all morning. Apparently the airline tried to cancel the flight because they confused your last names. They emailed Hana last night, but she wasn’t exactly in any condition to deal with it.”

“Why did they contact her about your flight?”

“Oh, Hana offered to let us fly on the flight her parents chartered.”

As if summoned, Hana walked outside at that moment, looking incredibly unlike Hana. Her hair was thrown up in a messy bun, she was wearing a baggy sweater and yoga pants, and her eyes were hidden behind a large pair of sunglasses.

“HANA!” Maxwell yelled, bursting into laughter as she winced. “Sorry, it’s just not often I get to tease you about anything.”

Hana walked over to the group, shaking her head. “Well, now I have first-hand experience with a hangover. I’m sorry for how I acted last night.”

“Don’t worry about it - you’re a fun drunk,” Riley said, smiling as she pulled her into a hug.

“I’m going to miss you so much,” Hana choked out, a tear trailing down her cheek.

“Group hug time!” said Maxwell, dragging Drake into the cluster. As they were pulling apart, Bertrand came striding over.

“Finally fixed the flight roster. We should get going. Drake, take care,” he said, extending his hand. Drake stared at him for a moment before joining the handshake with a nod. Bertrand then turned to Riley, “Riley Liu, it was a pleasure getting to know you. If you are ever in Cordonia, you are always welcome to stay with us.” He offered his hand to Riley as well, but she shook her head and pulled him into a loose hug.

“Thank you, Bertrand. I know I wasn’t what you hoped for as a sponsee, but I appreciate how you looked out for me.”

Maxwell stepped up next, going straight for a hug with Drake. “I’m gonna miss you, roomie. Just give me a call if you need tips on how to handle this one.”

“Hey!” exclaimed Riley.

“What? You’re his problem now,” he laughed as he moved to clutch her tightly, “And you are a pain in the _ass_ to wake up.”

“I love you, Maxwell.”

“I love you too, sis.”

“Are you guys sure you don’t want to come back to Cordonia with us?” asked Hana, her voice shaky.

Riley took in a deep breath. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if they went back to Cordonia. These were the closest friends she’d had in years, and she was giving them up. Plus, she was ripping Drake away from his entire social circle. She had gone to Cordonia on an impulse months ago, and it was the best decision she ever made. Would it be so bad to just as impulsively return?

“We need to stay here, Hana,” said Drake. Riley looked at him, appreciating the conviction in his tone. He was right. They had talked about this extensively, and New York was the right place for them. “ _I’m just not used to goodbyes where I care this much_ ,” realized Riley.

“Well, then get over here for a hug, you two.” As Hana embraced Riley, she whispered, “Thank you for getting to know the real me.”

Riley nodded, wiping tears from her eyes. “Keep in touch, okay?”

“Maxwell, Hana, time to go!” called Bertrand. With last quick hugs, they went over to the car, smiling and waving as it pulled away. Riley slipped her arms around Drake’s waist as he pulled her in with an arm around her shoulders. The car had barely turned around the corner when Liam and Madeleine arrived. Madeleine completely ignored them, walking straight to their waiting car, but Liam paused. Riley wasn’t sure which was more awkward - jumping away from Drake like they were caught doing something they weren’t supposed to or staying as they were. She decided on a middle ground, sliding one arm down but leaving her other wrapped behind Drake.

“I can’t believe this is goodbye,” said Liam as he approached them with a sad smile.

“Not for long. Your wedding is just around the corner.”

Liam sighed at that, but nodded anyway. “I guess you’re right. Call me if you need anything.”

“Same to you, man.” Drake stepped away from Riley, pulling Liam into a tight hug. After a few moments, they parted, both of their eyes watery.

“Riley, I’m so glad I met you. I’ll see you soon, yes?”

Riley moved to hug Liam as well, “Of course. Safe travels.”

“Liam, let’s go!” Madeleine yelled from inside their car. With one last hug for Drake, Liam walked away, glancing over his shoulder as he pulled the car door shut. And like that, it was just her and Drake.

They stood on the sidewalk, hand in hand for a few moments before Drake broke the silence. “Should we go pack up?”

Riley nodded. Even though it was a morning of goodbyes, their life together was really just beginning.


	5. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Settling into their new lives in New York City is not without some emotional complications for Drake and Riley.

Drake couldn’t stop jingling his keys in his pocket. This new set gave everything a different weight and sound. He knew he was going to just be getting used to the change when he would have to swap them out for the one’s for Riley’s place. And quite frankly, he wasn’t a big fan of change.

Deep down, he knew the keys just acted as some physical reminder of how much he had upended his life over the past 60 hours. He _never_ did things like this. Never. He wasn’t the type to rock the boat or disrupt the natural course of things. The only other time he made such a major decision was when he enrolled in college, but that was a lot more carefully thought out than whatever he had just done here. Of course, _leaving_ university hadn’t exactly been a calm, rational decision. Honestly, that was probably the closest comparison to his current situation, but Drake didn’t want to dwell on the fact that moving in with his girlfriend was somehow comparable to his response to an assassination attempt. He didn’t know what conclusions he would draw if he did, but he was sure it wouldn’t be good. 

The ding of the bell and the slide of the elevator doors jolted Drake back to reality. He grabbed their luggage as Riley attempted to corral Anderson down the hallway. He had been a ball of uncontrollable energy ever since they picked him up from the hotel’s pet boarding service. When they met with Shaina in Central Park to get the keys for their rental, he could tell that she was uncomfortable with the dog’s excitability, straight up warning Drake that fees would be assessed for any furniture damage. Drake hoped that he was just wound up from being shoved in Riley’s tote bag on the subway twice in such a short amount of time. Otherwise, that dog was going to go nuts having to live in the city.

Eventually, they made their way about halfway down the hall, finding unit 18E, their home for the next week and a half. Riley unlocked the door and coaxed Anderson through it. Drake lugged their bags into the narrow entry, taking in the surroundings. It was clean and modern, without being too sleek, but damn it was small. The living space didn’t hold much more than a couch and a table with two chairs. The kitchen was shoved against the side wall. The bedroom was also tiny, with hardly any room to move around the bed and dresser.

“Don’t get used to this!” called Riley from the living room. “My place is a lot less updated than this one,” she continued as she entered the bedroom, grabbing their garment bags from him and hanging them in the small wardrobe.

“What about the size?”

Riley laughed. “Well, you made it a whole train ride before you said something that proves you are way more spoiled than you think you are.”

“How long did you think I’d make it?”

“About 10 minutes longer than you did.”

“Fair enough.” Drake couldn’t help but laugh. Maybe he was less in touch with the common life than he thought.

“Will that be a problem? Because we could always look for a new place together. Our income should be higher since it’ll be combined, and we could always move out of Manhattan which would make things-”

Drake cut her off with a tender kiss, “I’ll be fine, Liu. This will just provide me with an apparently much needed reality check.”

Riley paused for a moment, squinting slightly as she stared into his eyes, clearly trying to judge his sincerity. After several seconds she smiled and nodded, “Okay. I think I’ll jump in the shower.”

She stepped back and started rifling through her suitcase, grabbing her toiletry bag and walking into the bathroom. Drake figured he should start unpacking, but he had barely unzipped his suitcase when her voice interrupted him.

“Wanna join me?”

He spun around rapidly, looking at her standing there with her head peeking around the door frame, a coy smirk dancing across her face. The fact that he was able to reach in her in one step, roughly kissing her against the wall in less than five seconds, well that was an unexpected benefit of small apartments.

* * *

Riley lounged on the bed, absentmindedly stroking Anderson as she scrolled through job listings on her laptop. “So other than working in a stable, what job experience do you actually have?”

Drake turned away from the mirror toward her, his face still half covered in shaving cream, razor clutched in his hand. “It’s hard to define my role at the palace.”

“So you’ve said, but employers are not going to like your decade gap in work history.”

“I don’t know what to tell you, Liu,” he said, spinning back toward the mirror and continuing to shave.

Riley sighed, clicking open his very short resume. This was going to be a problem. She glanced back at Drake as he finished shaving, then returned to her computer. “ _Screw it_ ,” she thought, adding “Royal Advisor and Assistant” to his employment history. He might be reluctant to spell out the details, but he was going to have to list something.

“Huh, sure, that’ll work.” Riley jumped, startled to find Drake staring at the screen over her shoulder.

She thrust the computer at Drake as he sank down onto the bed next to her. “Here, I’ve opened some job sites for you. I have no clue what line of work you want, but knock yourself out.”

As Drake started scrolling through some listings, Riley pulled out her phone and called Daniel. He answered after a few rings.

“Riley! Are you still in town?”

“I’m back for good, actually.”

“Really? That’s so exciting! What about the guy?”

“He’s here, too.”

“Oh my god. I need details!”

“Daniel, calm down; we can catch up later. I’m calling because I was wondering if you knew of any bars or restaurants that are hiring.”

“Hmmm, I think that place on Orchard just north of Grand changed ownership recently, so they might need some help. Otherwise, I’m not sure. I could ask around, though. Marcus probably knows of some places.”

“Thanks, Daniel. We should get together and catch up sometime.”

“Absolutely! I work a double tomorrow, but I’m off the next day if you wanted to meet for lunch.”

“Sounds perfect. Bye Daniel.”

“See ya, Riley.”

Riley hung up the phone and looked over at Drake, feeling his eyes on her. “Why are all of these websites focused on office jobs when you are looking for service jobs for yourself?”

“I tried to think of what job would be the equivalent of what you did at the palace. It’s the closest I could find. Granted, it was tough since I’m not _exactly_ sure what you did there.”

Drake chuckled, “But do you really picture me sitting in a stuffy office building all day? Wearing a suit and tie?”

“Well, I don’t mind picturing you in a suit and tie…”

Drake blushed at her comment, “Liu…”

“If you don’t want to work in an office, what kind of job do you want?”

“I don’t know. I could tend bar or something.”

Riley laughed at that.

“What’s so funny about that? I’ll have you know I can make a lot of different drinks. It’s not my fault none of them taste as good as straight whiskey.”

“It’s not that. You just do not have the temperament for bartending.” Drake opened his mouth to argue, but Riley kept going. “Imagine a bachelorette party, fifteen intoxicated, loud women, all ordering lemon drops.” Drake rolled his eyes. “Exactly! You couldn’t even suppress an eye roll at the thought of it. Now imagine eight hours of dealing with customers just like that and having to keep a smile on your face the entire time.”

“Well, I don’t have many better ideas. There’s not much outdoors in this goddamn city. Maybe construction?”

“Do you need a license for that?”

“How the fuck would I know?” Drake was clearly getting frustrated, throwing his hands to the side and shaking his head aggressively.

Riley sank down on the bed beside him, placing the laptop off to the side. “Hey, it’s okay. We’ll figure this out, alright?” She placed her hand on his thigh, trying to soothe him by tracing gentle circles with her thumb. “We just started talking about this today. We have time.”

Drake leaned forward, dropping his face into his hands. “Even if I wanted an office job, most of them require a college degree, not my two and a half semesters with nothing to show for it. I’m apparently not qualified to do anything.”

Riley placed her head on his shoulder, hoping to provide some comfort, but it seemed to have the opposite effect. He continued his rant, “I always thought I would be able to take care of the people I loved.”

His words were so loaded with self-loathing, Riley had to say something to break his chain of thought, “Hey! You moved to a new continent so that I wouldn’t have to face a media shit-show and a job hunt that would likely be worse than what you are facing. You gave up your career, your friends, your home, all for me. If that isn’t taking care of someone, I don’t know what is.”

Drake sighed as he sat upright, grabbing her hand and threading their fingers together. “I just want to do right by you, Liu.”

“You are, Drake.”

They sat there together for a few minutes, the silence gnawing at Riley. She had no idea if she had helped at all, but he seemed calmer at least. Eventually, she decided to try talking again. “We’re gonna be okay.”

“How do you know that?”

“I’ve always been okay. I’ve always been able to figure something out, even in far worse situations. I don’t see why this time will be any different.”

With that, he turned to look at her, and she did the only thing that occurred to her. She kissed him.

He responded aggressively, wrapping his arms around her and tugging her onto his lap. His kisses were passionate, intense, biting at her lips and sliding his tongue past hers. She hadn’t expected this response, but she wasn’t going to complain. After so long wanting him this way, it was reassuring to feel his desire, his lust. Who cared that they had just had sex in the shower? They were simply making up for lost time.

It didn’t take long before Drake was sliding his hands under her sweatshirt, pulling it over her head. His hands were everywhere, her back, her breasts, her stomach. They slid around her, unhooking her bra as his lips fell to her neck, biting down lightly. Riley couldn’t contain a moan, which seemed to drive him even further. He dropped his lips down lower, working his way toward her nipples as his hands came around to cup her breasts.

Riley wasn’t sure how she was so turned on when she had just come with his tongue inside of her as he held her firm against the tile of the shower wall less than an hour ago, but things were escalating rapidly. She fumbled with the towel wrapped around his waist as he continued to lavish her breasts, showing her just how talented he was as he combined a swirl of his tongue around her nipple with the perfect caress. As he slid his hands back to her ass and shoved down her sweatpants and underwear, she had to wonder why had they waited for so long when they could have been doing this for the entire engagement tour, if not longer.

With some effort, Riley grabbed Drake’s chin, pulling him off her chest and kissing him aggressively before she climbed off his lap and dropped to her knees. His intake of breath was sharp, spurring her on as she slid her hand around him, looking him dead in his eyes as she took him in her mouth. He moaned her name and shuddered, his eyes slamming shut. She swirled her tongue before she began bobbing her head up and down, causing his hands to grasp tightly in her hair. It couldn’t have been more than a few minutes before he was tugging her off him.

“Oh no, I’ve got more plans for you,” he moaned, sliding his hands down to her waist and guiding her onto his lap. Riley rolled her hips against him, but his hands stilled her. “Shit, where are the condoms?” he mumbled.

Damn. “The bathroom,” Riley breathed out. She was about to stand up to go grab them, but Drake held her tightly to him as he stood, carrying her with surprising ease. Before she could fully process the change of location, he had placed her on the bathroom counter and was ripping open a wrapper. He had barely rolled the condom on before she pulled him closer, wrapping her legs around his hips as he sunk into her with a loud groan.

The angle from this counter height was incredible. Drake was filling her completely, hitting that place inside her with each stroke. Her hands scrambled around his shoulders, clutching at him as she whispered out a “fuck” before pulling his head to hers. Their kisses were rough, sloppy, messy, but that hardly mattered. It all just felt so damn good.

It didn’t take long before Drake’s hand slid down her body, rubbing rough circles across her center, increasing the pace of his thrusts at the same time. It was just too much. Riley dropped her head back as she cried out his name, the combination driving her over the edge. In some part of her mind, Riley was aware that Drake had slowed his pace, allowing her to ride out her pleasure without over stimulating her. But before long, she was back, staring straight into his eyes. The lust, the love there was overwhelming. Riley bucked her hips against him, tugging her hands into the hair at the base of his neck. It was enough to drive him back to his intense rhythm, and it wasn’t long before he found his own release, sinking his teeth into her collarbone as he unraveled.

After a few moments, Drake pulled back, dropping tender kisses to her temple as he helped her off the counter. He kept looking at her in awe, as if he couldn’t believe what just happened. She had to imagine her face reflected something similar. He discretely tossed the condom in the trash as he led her back to the bedroom, handing her clothes to her before he made his way to his own suitcase, still completely packed on top of the dresser. As she got dressed, she finally felt her voice returning to her. “So I have an idea that might make you feel better.”

“Better than that?”

Riley laughed. “Probably not, but let’s get dressed. We’re heading out.”

* * *

The sun was just starting to set as Drake and Riley wandered back toward the rental, arms full of bags. After a few hours of shopping for some essentials, including dog food, a pet bed, some soap and shampoo that didn’t smell like fruit, and a bottle of whiskey, Drake was feeling a little better. The looming job search still weighed on him, but it wasn’t the only thing on his mind. Riley had been right, taking care of some of these other tasks _did_ make him feel better. It seemed like they were figuring things out. Progress had been made. They were taking care of things together.

They were walking past a market when Drake stopped abruptly. Here was another needed errand they could cross off the list. Riley followed his gaze and seemed to be on the same page.

“I guess we should get some food since we didn’t really have lunch. What do you want for dinner?”

“What do you usually like to make?”

“That’s cute. I meant what type of take out do you want. I know all the best places.”

“What do you mean take out? Shouldn’t we be saving money?” Suddenly, it dawned on him. “Liu, do you not cook?”

“Why would you assume I cook?”

“Because you’re a grown ass adult.”

“Can you cook?” she turned to face him, a defiant look etched on her face, ready to nail him for a sexist assumption undoubtedly.

“Of course.”

Riley raised an eyebrow, “Alright. Prove it.” And with that, the challenge was on. Drake smirked at her before brushing past her into the shop. He might not have figured out how he was going to earn money, but he sure as hell could literally put food on the table for her.

* * *

Riley scraped her fork across her plate, eating the last of her portion of Drake’s cooking. She had left him alone in the kitchen, thinking he would give up at some point. After all, he spent most of his adult life living in a palace. Surely, there was no way he had really learned how to cook. But when he called her out of the bedroom, she was shocked to see some complicated looking dish involving chicken, orzo, and an amazing smelling sauce. It all proved to taste just as spectacular.

“Alright, I admit defeat. So, who taught you to cook?”

“A combination of both my parents and my grandmother. My mom is a decent cook and baker, and she taught me a lot about American food. My dad always made breakfast on his days off, though; plus he taught me how to grill and cook over open flame. But my grandma was the one who really loved cooking. She didn’t want to just teach Savannah and me traditional Cordonian dishes, but other Mediterranean cuisines as well. Greek, Italian, Turkish, Spanish, you name it, she could make it.”

“I just assumed you would have lost any ability to cook living in a palace with chefs at your disposal.”

“You know me, Liu. Never did like relying on anyone.”

“So you’re telling me all this time, I could have had you whipping me up something like this for a midnight snack?”

“Hey, I’m not some short order chef!”

“Yeah, I’m sure you would have sent me packing if I came by your room late at night.”

“Fine, I would have demanded you pitch in, though.”

“Trust me, that would not have gone well.”

“Can you seriously not cook?”

“I mean, I can get by in a pinch if I need to. Pasta, chicken breasts, hamburgers, that sort of thing. I just never really felt the need to learn when I was surrounded by every type of cuisine imaginable.”

“Did your parents cook at all?”

Riley inhaled sharply. Drake knew the basics about her family, that her dad left when she was only three years old and that she barely remembered him, that her mother had fallen down into a pit of addiction that had landed her in and out of jail and Riley in and out of foster care prior to her death just over four years ago, but she hadn’t gone into details with anyone before. Her gut instinct was to deflect away from this topic. However, that seemed wildly unfair. After all, she had started this line of conversation. Plus, he had opened up to her about his father before. She kind of owed him some info.

Given her long pause, Drake began backpedaling, “We don’t have to talk about this if you don’t want. I was just curious.”

“No, it’s okay. My dad never cooked as far as I remember. My mom, well, she wasn’t the greatest about making sure there was food in the apartment all the time, to be honest.”

“Riley…” Drake reached for her, but she shook her head. She would never get through this if he touched her.

“There were some times when she got clean that she taught me some dishes. I could probably still prepare dumplings in my sleep, and she made amazing pork buns. She tried to teach me how to make mooncakes a few times as well, but I thought they were disgusting. But most of the time, I just had to make the food I got at school count because there was no guarantee that she would ever swing by the bodega to pick up anything or that she wouldn’t sell the food stamps so she could get her next fix. I honestly probably learned more about Puerto Rican cooking in my 8 months with the Veras than I did about Cantonese food from my own damn mother.” By this point, a few tears had started trailing down her cheeks, and Drake looked conflicted, torn between wanting to comfort her and wanting to respect her request for him not to touch her. Riley tried to reign it in, “I’m sorry, this is way too heavy for our first night living together.”

Hoping to get a couple of moments to calm herself, she grabbed both their plates and headed to the sink. Footsteps followed right behind her, though. Sure enough, she felt Drake’s hands on her shoulders as she turned on the faucet.

“I’m so sorry.” His words were soft and gentle, and Riley wasn’t sure whether he was apologizing for asking her about her mother in the first place or just apologizing for the things she went through in general. It didn’t really matter though, because that was all it took. She was crying in earnest now as Drake turned her around and crushed her to his chest, holding her tightly and dropping kisses against the top of her head.

Eventually, Riley felt the tears start to slow, the overall emotional waves start to level off, quickly to be replaced by embarrassment. She had never unloaded on a boyfriend like that before. She took a step back and was ready to apologize for her outburst, but Drake shook his head. “I can wash the dishes, why don’t you relax.”

Relaxing was the last thing she wanted to do, as it would give her way too much time to think about what just happened. So instead, she spun around and picked up a plate. “How about I wash, you dry?”

Drake didn’t answer immediately, probably trying to determine if this was a normal response after an emotional breakdown, but she soon felt him step up beside her, towel in hand. She knew he was staring at her, but she kept her focus on the water, the soap, the bubbles. As she handed him the plate after finishing her rinsing, she felt his fingers around her wrist, stroking lightly, but he didn’t linger. Somehow, that touch conveyed more support than she could have hoped for, saying he wasn’t going anywhere without forcing anything. She turned and placed a kiss on his shoulder before diving back into the dishes. She wasn’t about to question how she had found a man that actually understood her.

* * *

Drake increased the heat slightly on the burner, checking the way the French toast was browning with the spatula before turning to the bacon. He knew Riley ate eggs usually, but French toast was probably the food he was best at making. It was his mom’s favorite, so his dad had made it often.

It may have only been a couple of mornings waking up together, but Drake could already feel himself falling into a rhythm. He had woken up before his alarm, which was typical for him. Anderson had gotten up with him as he climbed out of bed, so he took the dog outside and fed him before hopping in the shower, after which he got dressed and started breakfast and coffee, all without seeming to disturb Riley in the slightest.

Today was bound to be a long day of applications and job hunting, but even though Drake feared he would be a complete failure, he knew he could at least get breakfast right. Anderson seemed to understand that Drake was going to be the one taking care of him in the morning as he followed him around, constantly getting underfoot as Drake whipped up the egg dip for the French toast. After throwing him a corner of bacon, though, he trotted happily over to his new bed, snuggling down and going back to sleep. This mercifully left Drake free to cook. He was flipping over the slice of toast when his phone started ringing. He grabbed it off the counter and answered immediately when he saw the name on the screen.

“Hey, Savannah.”

“Hey. Are you back in Cordonia yet? Because I have some news for you.”

“Er, no. I’m not back yet.”

“Maxwell told me you guys were set to arrive this morning.”

“Well, the thing is, I didn’t exactly head back with the court.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I, uh, moved to New York.”

There were several long seconds of silence before Savannah spoke again, “You what?”

“I stayed in New York City. I didn’t come back to Cordonia.”

“Drake, what the hell is going on?”

Before Drake could answer, another voice rang across the living room, “My god, are you making bacon? Because I love you if you-” Riley stopped talking abruptly when she saw the phone, mouthing “I’m sorry,” but it was too late.

“Are you with a _girl_?”

“Uh, yeah. That’s why I moved here.”

“Oh my god! Who is she? Wait, Maxwell said that Riley was from New York! It’s her, isn’t it? I knew something was going on with you two!”

“Now you’re just full of it. You had no idea.”

“I definitely did. Now, put her on the phone so I can tell her all my embarrassing Drake stories.”

“Savannah! Didn’t you call with news?”

“I did, but you aren’t going to be as excited as I thought you would be.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m coming back to Cordonia. My flight gets in tomorrow.”

“You’re kidding.”

“No, I was going to ask if you could pick me up at the airport, but I guess I’ll have to ask Maxwell.”

“Why the change of heart?”

“Seeing you and how supportive you were really got me thinking. I figured it was time to come back home and have Bartie grow up around family.”

Drake closed his eyes and sighed. “I wish you would have told me you were planning this, Savannah.”

“Sorry, I wanted to surprise you.”

Drake opened his eyes as he felt a hand on his back. Riley must have been concerned at his reaction, because she was staring up at him and mouthing “Everything okay?” Drake nodded roughly.

“Well, sorry I won’t be there to welcome you back.”

“I’m sorry, too. Guess Bartie and I will have to make a trip to New York coming up, huh?”

“Yeah, that would nice.”

“Maybe we can all head down to Texas for a few days and see Mom.”

Drake tensed at that. He had no interest in seeing her. “We’ll see.”

“Drake, you can’t ignore her forever.”

“Look who’s talking.”

There was a long pause before Savannah spoke again, “At least let her know you live in a different country, okay?”

“Savannah, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said-”

“I gotta go take care of Bartie.”

“Wait, Savannah…” but she hung up before he could finish his thoughts.

“Was that your sister?” asked Riley.

“Yeah, she’s moving back to Cordonia.”

“Drake…”

“It’s fine.” He turned back to the stove, but Riley grabbed his hand.

“Is it?”

The truth was he wasn’t sure if he was okay with this. If he had known Savannah was coming back, would he have left? He just didn’t know. He was trying to figure out how to best explain his thoughts as he turned toward her, but then their eyes met. He knew. It wouldn’t have matted what Savannah said. What she planned. Where she moved. He was exactly where he needed to be.

“It’s. Fine,” he repeated as emphatically as possible.

Riley blushed, smiling at him in that way that melted his jaded heart before she hip checked him, reaching forward to grab a piece of bacon out of the skillet.

“So, I have to ask if this is the usual Drake Walker treatment, because a girl could get spoiled by waking up to a good-looking man cooking her breakfast.”

“You’ll just have to wait and find out, Liu. Only time will tell.”

* * *

Drake sighed heavily as he walked out of the high rise. The last 24 hours had been a blur of applications, job postings, and interview requests for both him and Riley. Despite his earlier complaints, he had applied to all the office jobs he could find that didn’t explicitly list a college degree as a requirement. But the three interviews he had today had all gone terribly. He wasn’t prepared to defend his employment history. Explain his decision to move in a way that didn’t make him sound like a love sick puppy who followed his girlfriend impulsively. Kiss ass in general.

The sad part was, these were the jobs that had gotten back to him in less than 24 hours. They were truly desperate, but it was clear that even they didn’t want anything to do with him. Riley, on the other hand, was already leveraging offers from one bar against another, and that was just from the interviews she had made happen yesterday. Everyone wanted her, or so it seemed. She probably was back at the rental already, several job offers in hand.

His phone buzzed in his pocket and he groaned. That was most likely her, texting to ask him how the interviews went, which would make him feel inadequate, or sending him wishes of good luck, which would make him feel guilty for how jealous he was. It wasn’t her fault she was a natural at connecting with people. In fact, they probably wouldn’t be together if she wasn’t so damn charming and outgoing. If she had been as closed off and surly as him, well, they never would have gotten anywhere. Swallowing his pride, Drake pulled his phone out and glanced at it, nearly dropping it at what he read.

It wasn’t a text. It was a Google alert.

_Shots fired at Cordonian Homecoming Ball; Casualties Reported_

__


	6. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drake and Riley struggle to determine what exactly happened at the Homecoming Ball and if their friends and family are safe in light of the attack.

Drake’s hands were shaking. His mouth was dry. His heart was surely about two beats away from pounding out of his chest. He stood frozen to the sidewalk, frantically reading the same news story over and over again.

> _Numerous sources report shots were fired at the Cordonian Homecoming Ball this evening. Official palace representatives have not been reached for comment, but at least one source confirms that numerous ambulances left the palace after 22:00 local time. There are no confirmed fatalities at this time. Further updates to be provided as they become available._

It was four sentences that told him nothing, but Drake was glued to them, hoping he would glean something that would make him feel better. Suddenly, he was jolted to the side as someone shoved past his shoulder.

“Out of the way!” the person yelled, not pausing for one second. They weren’t wrong. He was just standing there in the middle of the sidewalk. He needed to get somewhere he could think. Somewhere he could try to get a hold of Liam or Bastien. Preferably somewhere with a television.

Scanning the nearby businesses, he saw two dingy-looking dive bars. Possibilities, but they were likely to get louder as it got later, plus the other customers might not tolerate a news station. There was a gym that probably had numerous televisions, but standing around in a shirt and tie in there was not ideal. Eventually, though, he noticed a small diner. As he got closer, he saw it had a counter and a small TV hung in the corner. Perfect.

As he walked towards the diner, he tapped open his contacts and scrolled to Liam. Small chance that he would be able to talk, but maybe he would answer and let him know he was at least… No, that possibility was too terrible to consider. The phone rang numerous times before going to voicemail as Drake pushed open the door and entered the diner.

“Sit anywhere,” called a gruff voice from behind the counter, but Drake was focused on his phone, trying Bastien next. Again, no answer. Same with Savannah. Maxwell. Bertrand. Even Olivia.

“God, you look awful! You okay, son?” asked the same man.

“I need a news station.”

“What?”

“On the TV, can you change to a news station?”

The man stared at him for just a second before grabbing a remote and changing the channel. “Any preference on which one?”

Drake shrugged, trying Liam again, but then an image on the screen caught his eye. “Wait, that last channel.” There, that was the palace. “Is there any volume?”

… the event was to celebrate the return of the country’s king and his fiancée following an international diplomatic tour. The couple are set to marry later this month. At this time, the casualties have not been identified, and the status of the king is unknown.”

Drake sank down on a stool at the counter. Liam still wasn’t answering. He wasn’t sure if that was a bad thing, or if Liam was just too busy dealing with the aftermath. Regardless, it wasn’t reassuring.

As the news channel transitioned to a story about some bullshit in the Senate, Drake called Riley. Maybe she had heard from Maxwell or Hana at least. She answered almost right away.

“Hey you, how were the interviews?”

Shit. She had no idea. “Liu, there- there’s been…” Drake could barely choke out any words.

“What’s wrong?”

“The Ball, there was an attack.”

“What are you talking about, Drake?”

“The Homecoming Ball, they’re saying there are casualties.”

“Are you serious?”

“I haven’t been able to get a hold of anyone. What if they…” He couldn’t finish the thought.

“Where are you?”

“I don’t know. Some diner by a subway station. Fulton street, I think.”

“Alright, I’ll meet you there.”

He didn’t know how she was going to find him based on his woefully inadequate information. Oh well, she could call him again if she needed. He turned his focus back to the TV, hoping they had another update soon. Meanwhile, he continued to cycle through his contacts, calling anyone who might have any information. How could this have happened only days after he left Liam?

* * *

Riley had only been walking the blocks around the Fulton Street station for a few minutes when she spotted a man with shaggy brown hair seated at a diner counter staring up at a TV as she glanced through the restaurant’s window. She had almost passed by, not used to the sight of Drake in a dress shirt.

Finding Drake had been easier than she thought it would be after she hung up the phone. His sheer terror combined with his tenuous understanding of the city was a recipe for terrible directions, but at least he knew what station he was near. She had spent the train ride reading what news she could find, but the reports were only beginning to trickle in. Apparently, the hospital in the capital was reporting that six victims of the attack had arrived by ambulance, but obviously they were not identifying the patients for privacy reasons.

Of course, Riley had immediately texted Hana and Maxwell after hearing from Drake, but neither one of them had gotten back to her. It wasn’t exactly surprising, but it obviously was unsettling. She had contemplated contacting Liam, but she wasn’t sure if she should given the circumstances. For one, he was probably pretty busy. Plus, she wasn’t sure if she had any right to call him given how things shook out between them. She figured she would leave that to Drake.

As Riley entered the diner, she quickly walked over to a stool next to Drake. His eyes barely flitted over to her before glancing back at his phone. There were no new notifications.

“He’s not answering his phone, Liu.”

He sounded so broken, so helpless. She slipped her arms around him as she whispered in his ear, “He’s gotta be okay. The palace would have to release a statement if he’d been injured.”

Drake sighed, running his hands over his face before he gestured towards the TV. “It’s such a small country, so we’re not getting a lot of coverage. But they did decide that discussing succession was a good use of air time. Fucking Olivia Nevrakis.”

“Is she next in line?”

“Yes, but I don’t want to talk about her,” he snapped.

“Drake…”

“Sorry, just… on edge.”

“I know.” Riley rubbed her hand between his shoulder blades. She pulled her phone out of her bag, placing next to Drake’s on the counter. No way either one of them was going to miss a call this afternoon.

“Liam, my sister, Bastien - I haven’t heard from any of them. Not even a text to let me know they are alive.”

“They’ll contact you as soon as they can.”

“Since when are you the model of patience?”

“ _Since you need me to be one_ ,” she thought. Truth was she was nearly jumping out of skin, but she didn’t feel like she had any right to be as upset as Drake. They were her new friends, and sure, she cared about them deeply, but they were _everyone_ important to him. So she tried to provide any comfort she could, instead of answering his question, just giving him one last squeeze before she unwrapped her arms and flagged down the salt-and-pepper-haired man who was working in the kitchen.

“What can I getcha kids?”

“Just some coffee to start.”

“Sure thing, coming right up.”

As he poured two mugs of coffee, he turned and glanced up at Riley. He hesitated for a moment before he asked her, “You two from there or something?” gesturing towards the screen.

“He is,” she nodded, “and I lived there for a bit, too.”

“Sorry. Lemme know if you need anything else.”

“Thanks.”

Riley added a cream to her mug before taking a sip, but Drake completely ignored his, instead checking his phone yet again. Suddenly, a news alert rang out from the TV.

“We have an update on the developing story coming out of Cordonia. We have just received confirmation from in the form of a statement from a palace representative that Madeleine Amaranth, the king’s fiancee, was one of the victims injured in tonight’s attack at the Homecoming Ball. Amaranth, who was set to marry King Liam later this month, is reported to be in stable condition at this time.”

Riley set down her coffee and clutched Drake’s hand. Madeleine was not a favorite of either of them, but that didn’t mean they wanted her dead.

“Shit,” hissed Drake before grabbing his phone again, dialing Liam yet another time.

This was bad. Riley had so many thoughts running through her head. Who else was hurt? Was Madeleine going to be okay? Who had done this? Were Maxwell, Hana, and Liam okay? What could she say to Drake to provide any comfort? Yet, in the midst of all the worries, one very selfish thought persisted in the back of her mind. How soon was he going to leave her to go back to Cordonia?

* * *

Drake was nearly hyperventilating. Madeleine was injured, and there was a high probability she had been near Liam at the time of the attack. Of course, the palace releasing a statement that made no reference to Liam could be reassuring. Unless they were trying to disguise a threat to the Crown to prevent further instability.

His call to Liam went to voicemail again. Drake slammed down his phone in frustration. He should have been there. He logically knew that his presence probably wouldn’t have made a difference. Still, it _felt_ like he should have been there. He had not even been away from court for a week and this was what happened. Drake didn’t believe in fate or destiny or any crap like that, but if this wasn’t a sign that he should have stayed in Cordonia, he didn’t know what was.

As the news anchors droned on about Madeleine, her past, and her family, Drake tried to focus on anything else. Riley was rubbing circles across the back of his hand with her thumb, and he could feel her staring at him. He didn’t know what to say to her, so he just sighed, giving her hand a squeeze in response. This must have encouraged her, because she spoke, “Are you hungry at all? We could get some food. It’s getting close to dinner time.”

He shrugged. He had no idea if he’d be able to eat anything, but getting some sort of meal was probably a good idea. “Yeah, let’s order something.”

Riley moved to wave over the sole employee when a loud buzz startled them both. His phone was ringing and flashing the name “Liam.” Drake lunged for it.

“Liam?”

“Hey Drake. I’m guessing you saw.”

“Are you okay? What happened?”

“I’m fine. I can’t chat long right now. I don’t know if this has been released yet, but Madeleine was shot in her side. She’s in surgery now.”

“Will she be okay?”

“The doctor’s think so, but while she’s in surgery, I need to meet with my security council. Drake, you should know that Bastien was shot as well.”

“What?”

“He’s okay, it was his calf and he should be out of the operation soon. Look, I have to go. I’ll give you a call back as soon as I can okay?”

“Wait, Liam-”

“Sorry, I have to go.”

With that, Liam was gone. At least he was okay. And he mentioned Bastien had pulled through. Surely, if someone else had been seriously hurt, Liam would have told him. Unless he didn’t know.

“Is Madeleine okay?”

Riley’s voice pulled him back to his present location. “She’s in surgery, but they think she’ll be fine.”

“And Liam’s okay?”

Drake turned to her, filling her in on what Liam had told him. He was just wrapping up when Riley’s phone lit up. Maxwell was calling her now.

“Put it on speaker.”

Riley looked around, and seeing that they were alone in the diner, nodded in agreement.

“Maxwell! I’m so glad to hear from you.”

“I’m okay. Hana’s here with me, too. We’re both fine.”

“Hey, Riley!” piped in Hana’s voice.

“I have you on speaker, too. Drake’s with me.”

“What happened?” Drake asked.

“A whole mess of assassins burst into the ballroom, masked and in combat gear like they were straight out of an action movie. It was crazy.”

“I was so terrified,” added Hana, “Maxwell and I were together, so I just grabbed his hand and ran for the closest exit. We were able to get out to the palace lawn before being ushered into a car that took us to a secure location. We’ve been trying to get in touch with you both for a while, but the cell networks must be overwhelmed with the volume of calls.”

Drake was petrified, but he had to ask the next question on his mind, “Were Savannah or Bartie there?”

Maxwell answered immediately, “Oh no, she left right after the fireworks were over to put Bartie down for bed. And when I talked to Bertrand just now, he said she sounded upset but fine when he talked to her.”

Drake let out a ragged sigh, tension flowing out of his body. There was still a lot to process, but at least everyone he cared about was accounted for.

“So Bertrand’s okay, too?” asked Riley.

“Thankfully,” said Maxwell, “I was really nervous when I couldn’t find him at the safe house where Hana and I are, but he just got through to me and he’s fine. No injuries for any of us.”

“Have you two heard anything from Liam? We haven’t gotten any updates.”

“He’s fine, Hana,” responded Drake.

“But Madeleine’s in surgery,” added Riley before mouthing “Bastien?” to him, but Drake shook his head. He wasn’t sure what the clearance on that information was at this point.

“Oh no!” they both cried at the same time before a beeping noise interrupted the conversation.

“Hey guys, Liam is trying to call me, so we’re gonna hang up,” said Maxwell.

“Okay, stay safe, and we’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“Love you guys!”

“Bye!”

Riley took a deep breath before grabbing both of Drake’s hands. “They’re okay, and Savannah and Liam are okay,” she said, giving him a shaky smile.

Drake spun on his stool to face her fully, dropping his forehead to hers as he let out several rough breaths. Riley raised her lips to his, her relief evident in her kiss. After a few moments, they pulled apart. Drake still felt nervous, but things were so much better than they were half an hour ago.

“So, you mentioned something about ordering dinner, Liu? Because my appetite just got a lot better.”

Riley laughed and waved over the man who Drake had to guess was the owner, asking for two menus. They both flipped them open, knowing that they would be there a while as they waited for more news. At least they were now doing it with less stress and soon to be fuller stomachs.

* * *

Drake sank onto the edge of the bed. After hours in that diner, it became clear they weren’t going to get any more information that night. After all, it was after 4:00 in Cordonia, so they had paid up, thanking the owner, and headed back to their unit. Anderson was bouncing off the walls when they returned, so Riley was taking him for a quick walk around the block.

The weight of the day was finally sinking into Drake. His interviews seemed like a lifetime ago. He somehow felt exhausted and wound up at the same time. He sipped on the whiskey he had poured himself, more out of habit than any thought that it would help take the edge off. He grimaced a little at the taste of this cheap brand. Riley was right, he was way more spoiled than he thought he was.

The more he thought about what had happened, he realized that he needed to go out to Cordonia, probably as soon as possible. This was most likely an attempt on Liam’s life, and Drake couldn’t leave him alone. He was trying to figure out how to tell Riley what he needed to do when he heard the door creak open. Soon, Riley was on the bed next to him, wrapping him in a tight hug. Anderson seemed to be trying to comfort both of them, hopping up on the bed and curling into Drake’s lap. They sat there for a few minutes, neither saying anything. It was peaceful and tender, and given everything that had happened, Drake had no desire to ruin it by telling Riley he would have to go to Cordonia for a while. “ _Tomorrow_ ,” Drake thought, “ _this talk can wait until tomorrow_.”

Eventually, Riley broke the silence. “Come on, let’s get some sleep.”

Drake tossed and turned for what felt like hours after Riley’s breathing settled into a slow and even pattern. At some point, he dozed off, but he kept waking up, even more than he usually did. A little after 2:00, a loud buzzing noise awakened him another time. It was his phone.

“Hello?” he mumbled, pulling himself out of bed in hopes of not disturbing Riley.

“Hey, Drake. Were you asleep? Oh, I’m sorry. I forgot about the time difference.”

“Don’t worry about it, Liam. I’m up now,” whispered Drake as he crept into the living room.

“Can you talk?”

“Of course,” he answered louder after he gently closed the door behind him. Anderson raised his head at the disturbance, but quickly went back to sleep upon seeing it was only Drake. “How’s everyone?”

“Madeleine’s out of surgery and doing well. She’s still incredibly sleepy. Bastien is great. He insisted on meeting with me in his hospital room.”

“The news mentioned four more casualties. Do you know who they were? Are they okay?”

“Everyone is doing well. There were not any deaths, thankfully. One of the new security agents was shot in his hand. Justin, Riley’s PR agent, was shot as well. Lady Kiara and a diplomat from Croatia were the other two victims. Both of them were stabbed but did not sustain any life-threatening injuries.”

Drake flopped onto the couch in relief. It wasn’t great, but this could have been so much worse. “That’s something, I guess. What happened, Liam?”

“Assassins swarmed the ballroom during my address. It was clear that Madeleine and I were the main targets, but they seemed to have no problem attacking anyone who was there. Bastien was trying to get us to safety when he got shot, and then Madeleine positioned herself between me and that gunman. Some other members of the security force were getting us to safety when Madeleine was hit. According to those who were left in the ballroom, the assassins fled pretty quickly when it was clear that we were gone.”

“Do we have any idea who’s behind the attack?”

“We’re still in the early stages of investigation, but Liberation Core is obviously at the top of the list. There’s a newer group called Sons of Earth that might be a possibility as well. It’s really too early to determine.” There was a long pause before Liam continued, “Bastien and I can keep you updated on our findings if you’d like.”

“Liam, I’m going to come to you. I can probably get a flight out tomor-”

“That isn’t necessary.”

“What are you talking about? Of course I’m coming back.”

“Drake, I don’t need you to come to Cordonia.”

Drake paused. This was not what he was expecting. Was this a punishment for what he did with Riley? Or did Liam just not trust him about anything anymore?

His silence must have alerted Liam that he was upset. “Look, I know you want to provide support for me, but you can do that remotely. I am happy to keep you looped into all of the discussions we have, but I am not bringing you out here right now. I would have no way of guaranteeing your safety.”

“I don’t care about that.”

“But I do. I am not going to endanger you.”

“Liam…”

“Stay with Riley, Drake. Keep yourselves away from the line of fire.”

Drake swallowed. He didn’t like it, but Liam did make a good point. Rushing out there was not likely to make things any better. The only thing he could provide by being there was emotional support, and the fact was, Liam probably didn’t want that from him anymore. At least not in the same way he used to. His relationship with Riley kinda ruined things there.

“Tell me you’re staying in New York, Drake.”

“Yeah, I’ll stay. I suppose I’ll see you soon enough for the wedding.”

It was Liam’s turn to pause at that. Finally, he said, “The wedding’s going to be postponed. It would look like we were panicking and trying to produce an heir in light of these attacks.”

“Oh.”

“This will also give Madeleine a chance to fully recover. Plus, we will need to increase security measures, and honestly? The optics of getting married so soon after an attack are probably not great. It’s a better idea to wait until the threat is reasonably well neutralized, then use the wedding for a celebratory morale boost.”

“Are you okay?”

“With postponing the wedding? Of course.”

“I kinda meant with everything.”

Drake heard a sigh before Liam spoke again. “I’m just glad no lives were lost. Right now, my focus has to be on national security.”

“Liam, are you sure?”

“I’ll be okay, Drake.”

“Okay. Well, keep me posted.”

“Will do. I’ll talk to you soon, and I’ll take the time zones into account next time, I promise.”

After Liam hung up, Drake dropped his head onto the back of the couch. The whole conversation left him unsettled. It would have been stupid to assume that the fact that Liam had told him he still wanted him as his best man meant that things were back to normal between them, but he hadn’t expected Liam to keep his guard up so much with him, at least about something like this, but Liam had not disclosed any of his emotions at all. It had just been so stiff and formal, like he was afraid to show any perceived weakness. Drake worried that if Liam didn’t find an outlet soon, that he would just end up repressing everything like he did before. Except this time, Drake would not be a good choice to fix things. The trust was too damaged.

Lost in his thoughts, Drake nodded off at some point. His sleep was uneven, filled with vague, uncomfortable dreams until Riley finally woke him up with a hand on his shoulder.

“What time is it?”

“Early, like 5 am early,” said Riley, guiding him to lay down on the couch before she crawled into his arms, wrapping them both in a blanket. It didn’t take long before they both fell back asleep.

* * *

“I don’t know, Maxwell. He says he’s fine, but he’s just so sullen.”

“That’s not really surprising, though. That’s kinda his MO, isn’t it?”

Riley sighed. She was currently taking Anderson on a walk, and she was using the time out of the apartment wisely to discuss her concerns with Maxwell. She had not really wanted to leave Drake by himself since she found him alone on the couch this morning, sleeping upright, but Anderson really needed some exercise.

“He hasn’t been like this with me since Lythikos.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, and I’m really worried about him. I don’t know what to say or do around him anymore. I keep waiting for him to tell me he’s flying back to be with Liam, but so far he hasn’t said much of anything.”

“He’s not gonna leave you, Riley.”

“For Liam, his best friend who just was an assassination target? Who he’s feeling mad guilty about already? I don’t know, I think he might.”

“Even if he did want to come see Liam, I don’t think that means he’d stay permanently.”

“I just worry if he goes to Cordonia, he’ll realize that moving here was a crazy decision and that I’ll never see him again.”

“Riley, he’s so crazy about you. He wouldn’t do anything to risk losing you. That boy is loyal as hell”

Riley wasn’t so sure that his loyalty to her would outweigh his loyalty to Liam in this situation, but she knew she wasn’t being fair here. Maxwell had a lot bigger concerns than her boyfriend worries.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to unload on you. How are _you_?”

“Oh, you know, takes more than little terrorist attack to keep Maxwell Beaumont down. We got clearance to return to the palace this morning.”

“How is it?”

“The attack didn’t really cause much damage, but everyone is on edge, and there are a lot more security personnel around.”

“Have you seen Liam?”

“Briefly. He looks good, but he’s pretty busy between security meetings and spending time at the hospital with Madeleine.”

“Keep an eye on him, okay. I worry that he doesn’t have anyone to talk to since Drake isn’t there.”

“No problem, I will gladly be his emotional support animal if need be.”

“Thanks, Maxwell. You and Hana keep us posted on how you’re doing, okay?”

“Of course, and you do the same for you two.”

“Absolutely. Well, I should get back to him, even though he won’t say anything of meaning. Did I tell you he left bed to go sleep on the couch last night?”

“It’s probably just a lot for him to process right now. I’m sure he’ll talk to you soon.”

“I hope you’re right. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Bye, Riley.”

As nice as it had been talking to Maxwell, Riley couldn’t shake her fears when it came to Drake. Their relationship was both incredibly new and a long time coming, which meant they dove into something serious very quickly. She felt that she should better know how to work with Drake’s emotions. They were living together, after all. But the fact was that she had never really had to deal with anything like this with Drake before. It was all very heavy, and she just didn’t have a framework yet.

All her worries were made worse by her underlying guilt about the fact that she had kept him in New York. If it weren’t for her, he would have been at Liam’s side, been there for him. He would have also had more than just her to turn to for support. Instead, he was in a strange city with only one person he knew. All of that was 100% her fault.

It all was just such a mess. Riley knew she should probably offer up going back to Cordonia, at least for a little while. Maybe if she hadn’t gotten that sweet bartending gig yesterday, she could have offered to go with him for a week or so, but she was not foolish enough to back out of full time hours with available medical insurance. No, Drake would have to head back by himself. That thought terrified her in numerous ways. Of course, watching someone she loved go to a place that just had an attempted assassination was scary, but honestly, the personal side was even scarier. Part of her was sure Drake would stay in Cordonia if he went back alone. His sister was there, as was Liam, who had just gone through something incredibly traumatic. Either one of those alone would be reason enough to stay.

She knew she was being selfish, but she wanted him to want to stay in New York with her. She wanted to be the most important person in his life. But that wasn’t fair. Just because she had no one important in her life before she met all of them didn’t mean that her experience was normal. She knew that friends and family shouldn’t be dropped for a relationship. If she were a good girlfriend, she would tell him to go. She just had to work up the courage and brace herself for being alone again.


	7. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drake continues to search for a job in New York while Riley settles in to her new bartending gig. Meanwhile, Madeleine had matters to discuss with Hana back in Cordonia.

Smoothing any wrinkles out of her dress, Hana took a deep breath and entered the hospital room right behind Penelope and Kiara. The two guards stationed outside the door made it abundantly clear who occupied this particular room, in addition to the metal detector they had to pass through that had clearly been placed temporarily at the entrance to this unit. Once inside, the touches provided by the hospital staff to elevate the room were apparent. The flowers that had been sent were placed in a variety of actual glass vases, not plastic containers. The blankets on the bed appeared much newer and softer than standard hospital fare, plus they were a lovely grey color, much different from the faded blues and greens of the stacks of blankets on carts they had passed on their way in. Somehow, the smell of this room was much more pleasant than the hallways they’d passed through, as if candles or air fresheners had been provided.

Sitting up in the hospital bed, Madeleine had a table pulled over her lap, covered in numerous binders and sheets of paper. She looked good at first glance, her hair carefully styled in spite of the shapeless hospital gown she was wearing, but on closer inspection, Hana noticed some subtle signs of her recent trauma. She was definitely wearing more rouge than was typical for her, and as she shifted slightly to greet her visitors, she winced before covering her grimace with a smile. She was still connected to a bag of IV fluids, plus another medication pump that was locked. 

“Madeleine, how are you?” asked Penelope, scampering away from Kiara and wrapping Madeleine in a hug, not noticing the grimace that crossed her face, clearly still in a large amount of pain.

“Just sit down. I called you all here to discuss some information.”

Hana joined Kiara in pulling over some chairs, settling in before Madeleine continued.

“So, Liam and I have discussed our response to this attack, and we both feel it is best that we postpone the wedding.”

Hana doubted that was entirely true. Based on the conversation she and Maxwell had with Liam yesterday, it definitely seemed like the postponement was coming from him. Additionally, with what she had observed about Madeleine, she highly questioned that she would really desire pushing back the ceremony that was the only thing standing between her and being officially crowned queen. Still, she kept her face solemn. If Madeleine wanted to play this development as being under her control, Hana knew better than to openly question that fact.

“Oh mon dieu,” replied Kiara.

“Honestly Kiara, it’s nothing. It simply makes the most sense. Regardless, I wanted my court aware of this decision so you can speak to the press intelligently and represent me well at the upcoming Five Kingdoms festival. I’m not sure if these so-called doctors will release me before then. I’ve told them I am perfectly fine, but they insist I am not cleared for discharge yet.”

At the mention of the festival, Kiara shifted slightly in her seat. “Madeleine, about the festival. I regret to tell you that I will not be able to attend.”

“Why the hell not?”

“In light of the recent attack, I’ve decided I should return home.”

“Really? You got a little scratch and you are running like a coward?”

Kiara dropped her eyes to her lap as Madeleine berated her. Hana felt for her. Getting stabbed in the shoulder, requiring several stitches, hardly seemed like a “scratch.” As Hana placed her hand soothingly on her shoulder, Penelope spoke up in her defense as well.

“She was stabbed! And we didn’t catch any of the assassins! Everyone is scared, Madeleine. In fact, I was going to tell you that I’m returning home as well.”

“Seriously?” Madeleine shook her head at both of them, sighing in disgust. “Fine, get out of here.”

Hana stood to leave with Penelope and Kiara, but Madeleine spoke out harshly.

“Not you, Hana.”

Penelope stopped in her tracks, turning back to Hana with wide eyes. She mouthed “sorry” before Kiara nudged her out of the room. Hana gently sat back down, this time taking the chair closest to Madeleine. She was unsure why Madeleine wanted to speak to her individually. Liam had already okayed her moving into the palace, at least temporarily, but it was possible that Madeleine objected for some reason. If she wasn’t able to stay in the palace, she wasn’t sure where she would go. Home was no longer really an option. In fact, she was shocked that she hadn’t been cut off by her parents completely at this point. Most likely, her father hadn’t entirely explained the situation to her mother yet, hoping that Hana would come back, begging for forgiveness.

Madeleine waited until the door was completely closed before she spoke again. “You’re really the only dependable one, aren’t you?”

Hana didn’t know how to respond other than to give a little smile. In response, Madeleine broke into a wide grin, more genuine-looking than any other expression that had ever graced her face, or at least the most genuine looking pleasant expression.

“Liam told me you asked him if you could move into the palace”

“I hope that won’t be a problem, Madeleine. I -”

“Of course not. I take care of those who are loyal to me. Wanting to be more accessible as a member of my court will never be a problem.”

Hana swallowed at that. Madeleine didn’t really believe that Hana was moving to the palace exclusively for _her_ , did she? “Did Liam tell you why I need to move in?”

To Hana’s surprise, Madeleine continued to smile at her question, “I’m glad you brought this up. I heard you rejected Neville.”

This sent Hana’s mind racing. She had assumed Madeleine would be upset that she had so firmly ended things with Neville, given the emphasis she had placed on her ability to keep a suitor just weeks ago. Yet here she was, seemingly pleased about this fact. “Yes, that is correct,” Hana eventually replied, choosing her phrasing cautiously.

“And you are not linked to Rashad at this time, are you?”

“I am not. Is that a problem?”

Madeleine paused for a moment, seeming to collect her thoughts before she started her answer. “They say certain things become clear when you go through something traumatic. The adrenaline puts everything in focus and what really matters is all you can see.”

Hana felt completely lost at this point. When Madeleine had summoned her court to the hospital, the last thing she expected to be doing was discussing near-death revelations one on one, but it was a nice alternative to her typical scorn and judgement. “Did that happen for you?”

“Not quite in such a saccharine fashion, but to a degree. Do you mind me asking why you rejected Neville?”

“He was so selfish and dull. I couldn’t see myself spending the rest of my life with him.”

Shockingly, Madeleine seemed to nod in agreement. “I understand the desire to have love and passion in your life. That much is clear to me now.”

“ _Is Madeleine thinking of calling off the wedding?_ ” wondered Hana. She simply couldn’t imagine it happening, but with Madeleine saying all these things, it was the only thought that came to mind. Not wanting to upset Madeleine if her assumption was incorrect, Hana remained quiet, allowing Madeleine to continue when she was ready.

“Did Riley ever tell you about the proposal I brought to Liam, the one that guaranteed he chose me during the social season?”

Hana shook her head. Riley had never brought up any such topic. Of course, that was around the time Hana’s suspicions that something was happening between Drake and Riley really started, so she had focused more on observing their interactions than watching how Riley was with either Liam or Madeleine.

“I told Liam if he chose me, I didn’t care who he was involved with behind closed doors. He was welcome to invite anyone to his bedroom as long as he was discrete.”

Hana couldn’t help it; her jaw dropped in shock. Was Madeleine trying to arrange an affair for herself? Did she want Hana’s help in keeping some ongoing relationship a secret? Before Hana could fully process this turn of events, Madeleine continued on.

“I had thought he was a lovesick fool, following such a shallow drive, but I can better understand his desire to keep passion and romance in his life, regardless of his station. I feel the appeal more than ever.” With those words, Madeleine dropped her left hand down, reaching for Hana.

Hana’s hands started to shake. Surely, this wasn’t happening. There was no way Madeleine could be interested in her. She had been so cruel and harsh, actively working to make her life harder. Before Hana could collect her thoughts, Madeleine twined their fingers together and continued her speech.

“I know it isn’t an ideal situation, but I figure discretion will be easy enough when we are living under the same roof, and-”

“No,” said Hana, pulling her hand from Madeleine’s, rapidly standing and walking across the room to put some distance between them. The words slipped out a little louder than she intended, but at least she got her message across.

Madeleine’s eyes briefly widened in horror and her cheeks flushed bright red, but she quickly composed herself, her mouth curling into a stern scowl. “Oh, I guess I misunderstood. I thought you were attracted to women.”

Hana felt her cheeks growing warm at that comment, “I am.”

“Then what’s the problem? Is it that I’m with Liam? That means nothing to me, and quite frankly, you are going to need to get used to some degree of freedom in relationships if you intend to marry within the Cordonian nobility-”

“I will not be your mistress, Madeleine,” Hana interrupted. “Whatever arrangement you have with Liam is your business, just as any such arrangements between any other nobles are between the parties involved, but I will never consent to such a relationship. I don’t care if it’s old-fashioned, but I will never be with any man or woman who doesn’t love me enough to commit to me and me alone.”

“God, you’re such a child, like you’re waiting around for some fairy tale romance,” sneered Madeleine.

“Maybe I am naive, but over the past few months I’ve learned that I can make my life what I want it to be, not what you or anyone else tells me it needs to be. And I have no interest in being a dirty little secret, hidden away for shameful moments, particularly with someone who took pleasure in my pain and looks down on me even as she tries to start a relationship with me. I am worth more than _that_.”

A tense silence settled over the room for a few seconds. Madeleine’s lips were pinched tightly, and she was blinking rapidly, a slight wetness visible. After a moment, she responded, “If you’re quite finished, Lady Hana, I think it’s time for you to go,” a slight shake evident behind in her voice.

Hana nodded, walking briskly to the door without a glance back. It wasn’t until she was at the elevator that she let out the breath she hadn’t even realized she’d been holding. She fumbled past her wallet, compact, and lipstick, attempting to grab her phone out of her purse with trembling hands. Eventually, she managed to access her contact list and select the name she needed to talk to most in this moment. After several rings, she answered.

“Hey, Hana. Just one second okay?”

In the background, Hana heard lots of rustling and Riley’s muffled voice. After a few seconds, she came back, “Sorry about that, Anderson and I were on a walk and he did not want to come back inside. How are you?”

“Okay, I think. I just had the most surreal conversation with Madeleine.” Hana began to explain her meeting with Madeleine, but she hadn’t even gotten past the discussion of Neville when Riley interrupted her.

“Sorry, I was in the elevator and you kept cutting out. All I got was something about a festival and Kiara and Neville.”

“Should I call back later?”

“No, no, no. I want to talk to you. Lemme just put you on speaker while I get dressed for work.”

Hana sighed. It was clearly a bad time for Riley, “That’s okay. I’ll give you a call later.”

“You sure?”

“Positive. Have a good time at work.”

Taking a deep breath, Hana kept her calm, remembering she was still in public. Still, she was overwhelmed by everything that had happened over the past 30 minutes, and she really wanted to talk to her best friend. Unfortunately, that was not an option right now, and realistically, she needed to find a place to stay since she had a feeling Madeleine was not going to be so welcoming at the palace after everything that just transpired.

Resigning herself to the fact that she was going to have to be a bit of a stray kitten, at least temporarily, she followed her instinct, scrolling to another name in the phone. This contact answered his phone right away.

“Hana-banana! How’s Madeleine doing?” said Maxwell.

“Physically fine, but I don’t think I’m on good terms with her anymore. Can I stay with you and Bertrand for a little bit while I figure some things out?”

“Of course! Let me come get you, and you can tell me all about what the she-devil did.”

Hana smiled. Maxwell Beaumont was many things, and thankfully, adorably reliable was one of them.

* * *

Drake took a bite of the BLT in front of him. The bacon was flavorful, the lettuce crisp, and the bread perfectly toasted. It was just what he needed. “Thanks, George.”

“Of course. How’s the job hunt?”

Drake shrugged. It had been over a week since the attack at the Homecoming Ball, and most days he’d eaten lunch at that same diner, getting to know the owner, George, a bit in the process. What could he say, he felt comfortable in this greasy spoon, hole in the wall type of place. Plus George’s food was good, old-fashioned comfort food.

Drake was in need of comfort. To say that his job search was going poorly was an understatement. He was told over and over again that he was overqualified for the entry level office positions, but it was rare when he was even asked for an interview for any of the higher level postings. He was sure his lack of college degree hurt him, but when he did get a rare interview, it was clear he wasn’t giving a good impression. He never had been good at ass-kissing, but at court, all he had to endure was a snide comment and a sneer. Here, his lack of sucking up meant that no one was going to hire him.

He’d expanded his job search to other fields, but that hadn’t really improved his luck at all. He’d gotten a couple of interviews at retail stores and restaurants, but he couldn’t keep up a friendly, smiling act for even the length of the interview. Construction and repair jobs wouldn’t touch him without formal experience it seemed. He looked into a customer service call center, but Riley urged him not to take that job, telling him that he would end up killing someone if he had to listen to people whine while somehow staying pleasant all day long.

“Trust me, I only stomached about 5 weeks at one of those call centers a few years ago,” she had said. “If you thought court was bad, just wait until some asshole doesn’t even have to look you in the eye when they call you every name they can imagine.”

Drake was starting to get concerned about money. New York was expensive, and a sizeable portion of his savings had gone to their rental, which had cost a crap ton considering they had needed a pet-friendly apartment in less than 24 hours, and Drake had drawn the line at sharing a unit with other random travelers. He didn’t care if Riley swore up and down that she had stayed in hostels a various points when she was between places. That might be fine when you’re young and taking holiday during university, but he was way too close to 30 to be considering something like that.

They were moving back to Riley’s apartment tomorrow, and while the the price per day would be lower, her place still cost about $2000 per month. And that didn’t include the utilities or anything. She had repeatedly told him not to worry about money. She was apparently making boatloads in tips at the bar and she kept insisting they would be okay on just her income until he found a job. But Drake already knew he would be cutting into his savings even more to make sure he was at least covering his share.

It made Drake feel like shit that he was barely able to cover his own food with the money he had earned since the move. He wanted to take care of Riley, and maybe that made him sexist or old-fashioned, but it just didn’t feel right being a burden to the woman he loved. He was able-bodied and should be able to contribute. But all he had so far were his TaskRabbit jobs.

He really had to thank Sam for getting him set up on TaskRabbit. Sam was George’s former daughter-in-law who worked in the kitchen over the lunch and dinner rush on weekdays. The dynamic between her and George had confused Drake when he found out that she had divorced George’s son, Nick, a few years earlier.

“Wait, so you hired her after she left your son?” Drake asked a few days ago, after Sam left for a doctor’s appointment.

“Well, for one, I hired her when she was still married to my son. I just didn’t fire her when she divorced him. She’s a good cook, and I still like her.”

“Doesn’t that make things awkward with your kid?”

“Well, if he wanted to keep things from getting awkward, he shouldn’t have cheated on her. Look, Drake, I love my son, but he’s a bit of an impulsive idiot. Sam is sharp, hard-working, and damn good in my kitchen. I still love her like a daughter, even if Nicky shot that all to hell.”

And that was that. Drake liked both of them, so who was he to judge if they found a dynamic that worked for them. Sam was a direct straight-shooter. She claimed that the pregnancy hormones made her more blunt than usual, but Drake got the sense that she always called things as she saw them, and that all the pregnancy had done was reduce her tolerance for bullshit. George was quieter, but he had a gruff no-nonsense approach to life that Drake appreciated. He supposed that was another reason why he kept coming back to this diner. Not only did he like the atmosphere and the food, but he liked the people, too.

These days, Drake had fallen into an awkward routine. Mornings were for interviews or searching for jobs online. Then, it was to George’s diner for a late lunch. He usually hung out there in the afternoon, taking tasks at the nearby office towers as they came in. He had quickly found that putting up shelves or putting together an Uskea desk was an easy way to make some money, and all these white collar workers were in such a hurry, they often threw him some extra cash for his quick arrival. Then it was home to feed and walk Anderson before he cooked dinner for himself, putting the leftovers away for Riley for when she got off work. Some nights he had found a couple of nearby tasks at night, loading boxes for a move or putting together a dresser, something like that. By the end of the night, he’d head down to the bar, waiting for Riley to finish up before walking her home.

Riley had rolled her eyes the first night when he had showed up a little before the end of her shift, telling him that she was capable of getting home on her own, but the thought of her alone so late just made him nervous. Maybe it would be better when they were living at Riley’s place and the bar was only a few blocks away, but for now, he just wanted to make sure she was safe.

“How do you think I managed before I met you?” she’d challenged him one night.

“Just because you can do something on your own, doesn’t mean you should have to, Liu.”

Regardless of her protests, Drake had been coming to the bar earlier and earlier. Mainly, it was a nice way to spend some time with her. Their schedules didn’t exactly line up the greatest, with Drake waking up early to hit the job trail, and Riley not getting off work until after midnight. Drake supposed it was he should be grateful that she usually didn’t have to close out the bar. The other new bartender had a kid to pick up from school, so she was glad to take the later shift most days if Riley was able to be there in the afternoon. The only times Riley really had to stay until bar close was when she worked the weekend. She and the other new hire had decided on alternating pairs of Friday and Saturday nights, and Riley had been the one who worked last weekend.

Given that there wasn’t going to be much Drake could do for job hunting over the weekend, he’d stayed with her until closing time last weekend. The weekends were obviously much busier than the weeknights, but Riley was impressively efficient, pouring drinks while still charming all the customers. Eventually, the crowd thinned as the night wore on, either heading home, some by themselves and others with a new partner, or moving on to clubs where they could mix their alcohol with dancing. It had been rather nice last Friday, as the only table left for the last couple of hours before bar close was a group of middle aged women celebrating a birthday. They just needed a new bottle of wine every so often, leaving Riley largely free to chat with him. Saturday ended with a couple of drunk men who required a lot more attention, but as Riley pointed out, that meant better tips. Plus, it had been pretty damn satisfying to leave with her after they had been hitting on her for hours.

This weekend, though, was going to be different. Riley was off both tonight and tomorrow night, and with no interviews over the weekend, they were planning on having a real date. It was odd to think that they had moved in together without ever actually going on a date. Drake had never lived with a woman before, but this certainly felt like a backwards order of doing things.

He knew he should probably see if there were any quick tasks he could knock out to earn some money, but thinking about Riley made him just want to head back to their rental. She hadn’t been awake when he left this morning, and as cheesy as it sounded, he missed her. Just talking to her, laughing at her jokes, that sort of thing. There had been plenty of down time on the engagement tour where they had talked about anything from the serious to the stupidly silly for hours on end. He missed that.

Pulling out his wallet, he grabbed the bills he needed for his sandwich, but it took a few minutes for George to make it over to him. Sam wasn’t here today, and George was struggling to keep up with the lunch rush. When Drake handed him his money, he asked, “Another doctor’s appointment for Sam?” but George shook his head as he began clearing away Drake’s dishes.

“No, she had the baby last night.”

“I thought she wasn’t due until next month?”

“Yeah, six weeks early. Made me mad nervous, but she and Jesse called this morning and said he’s doing real good and breathing on his own just fine.”

“Well, congratulations.”

“Thanks. Of course, the cook we hired for her maternity leave isn’t available for six weeks.”

“Damn.”

“Yeah, so if you know anyone who knows their way around a kitchen, send ‘em to me.”

“Seriously? Because I can cook.”

George stopped wiping the counter, squinting up at Drake. After a few seconds, he asked, “What kind of cooking are you talking about?”

“This kind of cooking. Nothing fancy, just good, filling food.”

“But no restaurant experience, right?”

“No, but I’m a hard worker.”

“I’m sure you are, son,” he said, pausing for several moments before he continued, “If we do this, it’d only be for Sam’s maternity leave. I don’t need anyone long term.”

“I know.”

“And if it isn’t working out, either one of us can call it off, no questions.”

“Fair enough.”

“Okay, I’ll see you Monday at 10,” said George, sticking out his hand. Drake shook it eagerly. He knew he probably should get something in writing about his hours or his wages, but he was too excited to care. He trusted George not to screw him over, plus this felt like a way better fit for him than any of his dozens of interviews. For once, something about New York that wasn’t named Riley Liu felt right.

* * *

“So, clearly you hustled me last time we played.”

Riley laughed before she called her pocket for the eight ball, sinking it with ease. “You just assumed I had no idea what I was doing. I didn’t bother to correct you.”

“You just ran the table on me.”

“Well, you’re good at pool, too. I couldn’t risk you winning by giving you a chance. See, unlike you, I take my opponents seriously.”

Drake rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Believe me, I take you plenty seriously, Liu.”

She smirked at that response, moving to rack the balls for another game when a pair of hands came to rest on her hips. She spun around to face Drake, looping her arms around his neck. “Don’t you want to play another game, see if you can avoid total embarrassment?”

Drake shook his head, before he dropped his lips to her ear, “All I really want to do is get you naked.” Suddenly, the heat that had been building between them reached the breaking point.

Drake had been nearly giddy tonight, _his_ good mood completely infectious in a total role reversal for them. Starting when he bounded into the Airbnb in the afternoon, announcing that he had found a job, he had been smiling nearly nonstop. Riley knew that his job hunt had been going terribly, a fact which clearly weighed on him. In fact, Riley had wondered if his inability to find employment was part of the reason he hadn’t gone back to Cordonia.

In the initial days after the attack at the Ball, Riley had asked Drake if he planned to go and visit Liam, but he had said no without much of an explanation. Sure, he had talked to Liam or Bastien almost everyday, but Riley had been sure he would want to see them in person. She couldn’t help but wonder if he was self-conscious about his lack of a job, causing him to avoid returning to Cordonia. She couldn’t think of any other explanation. She had made sure to tell him she understood if he wanted to go, so it wasn’t likely that he was staying for her sake, unless he could sense her reluctance for him to leave. Regardless, the selfish part of her was glad he wasn’t headed to a different country, even as the rest of her worried about his avoidance of his former home.

Given how everything had been weighing on him, Riley was thrilled he found work he was happy about. She had been worried that his job hunting stress was going to put a damper on their first real date, but the timing had worked out perfectly. The entire evening had been excellent, starting with pizza and beer before they had headed to one of Riley’s favorite dive bars. They had been drinking and talking for hours, and Riley was pleasantly buzzed when Drake had spotted the pool table in the back, challenging her to a rematch of their game in Paris. Given their mutual memories of that night, of everything they had wanted to do, but couldn’t back then, it wasn’t surprising that it had only taken one game before they were both scrambling to get out of there to somewhere they could turn those fantasies to reality.

It was torture getting home. It was late enough that they had to contend with subway maintenance, so they waited for at least twenty minutes for their train. Riley was about to suggest getting a Dryve when they finally heard the train coming down the track. They had been contenting themselves with little touches and light kisses, but as they settled in to their seats, Drake grew bolder, less patient, letting his hand slide between her legs and slowly creeping upward. Thankfully, they only had a few stops, or Riley was sure they would have completely scandalized the middle aged couple seated a few rows away from them.

By the time they reached their building, it was a miracle they made it into the elevator before they were kissing. Riley barely registered her back hitting the wall as she tugged Drake down, sliding her fingers through his hair. The buzz from the alcohol hadn’t completely worn off, and it was enhancing everything with a warm, pleasant glow. Both their hands were everywhere, grabbing at each other, sliding under clothing. The kisses were rough, biting and demanding. He ground his hips against her as he pushed her further against the wall, only to tug her after him when the bell finally dinged, signaling that they had reached the 18th floor.

It took them longer than it should have to reach their door, and unlocking it was a struggle as Drake was working his mouth down her neck as he stood behind her, arms wrapped tightly around her waist. Finally, they stumbled through the door, only to be greeted by Anderson, tail wagging as he happily trotted over to them. Riley sighed as Drake let out a groan before reaching for the leash they had left by the door.

“I’ll take him around the block. When I get back, I expect you to be naked in bed,” he said, dropping one last kiss to her forehead before he grabbed the dog and turned toward the door.

Riley smiled as she watched them leave. They had waited so long for this first date, what was waiting 10 more minutes?


	8. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drake and Riley try to establish a routine and settle into their new lives. Meanwhile, an additional attack in Cordonia leaves Liam and Hana pondering their next steps.

_Srtch srtch srtch srtch_

Drake groaned, slowly opening his eyes. What was that noise? He rolled over, grabbing his phone off the end table. 9:03. Well, shit. Shaina was supposed to pick up the keys in less than an hour.

_Srtch srtch srtch_

That damn noise kept going. “Liu,” he said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“Ten more minutes,” she mumbled, head remaining firmly buried in her pillow.

“No, Liu. We gotta pack up. It’s after nine.” He shook her shoulder.

“Ughh,” she groaned, reaching over, grabbing her phone, and shoving on her glasses, confirming the time. “Shit. Why didn’t you set an alarm?”

Drake glared at her as he got up, grabbing some clothing out of his suitcase. Was she seriously suggesting that _he_ was the one who had to be responsible for the alarm when she was damn near impossible to wake up? They both were a bit distracted last night. Before he could respond though, the noise came back again.

“Can you take him for a quick walk while I get dressed?”

Right. The dog. “Yeah, you might wanna start packing, too.”

Drake threw on his clothes as Riley rolled out of bed. Anderson was waiting for him on the other side of the bedroom door, clearly much more alert and awake than the two humans in the unit. Rushing, Drake fed him and took him outside, trying to get into the swing of the day. He never overslept. Never. He was usually a very light sleeper, but his sleep schedule had been so erratic since moving to New York. It must have just caught up with him, but he hated waking up late. It always put him in a _mood_ for the rest of the day.

When he returned to the unit, he was pleasantly surprised to find that Riley had already packed up both of their suitcases and was working on cleaning out the kitchen. “Your phone rang twice. I wasn’t sure how you felt about me answering it,” she announced, her head buried in the refrigerator.

Drake unhooked Anderson from his leash, watching him trot over to Riley as he grabbed his phone. Two missed calls from Liam. Frantically, he called him back.

“Drake, thanks for getting back to me.”

“What’s going on? Is everyone okay?”

“Yes, everyone is fine. I wanted to inform you that there was another attack-”

“What happened?”

“They burned the orchards at Applewood.”

“Fuck.”

“Yeah, we’re heading out there tomorrow, but the reports are grim, to be honest. The economic impact of this will be devastating.”

“Shit, Liam,” Drake sank down on the couch. This was bad. Really fucking bad. While Applewood was a smaller orchard, it was the primary grower of the Cordonian Ruby, and it was the oldest orchard in the country. This was going to impact exports for years. Not to mention the morale hit. This was going to hurt Liam’s approval ratings. A lot. “ How are you doing?”

“I’m fine, Drake. I’m just grateful no one was injured.”

“Liam, seriously. How are _you_?”

The silence stretched on for what felt like forever. Finally, Liam said, “I’m doing okay.”

That was it. No details, no thoughts. Nothing. Drake didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know how to start fixing what he broke, so he took the coward’s way out. “Okay, I’ll let you go. I’m sure you’re busy. Let me know if you need me out there, okay?”

“Of course, Drake. Take care.”

After he hung up, Drake sighed, running a hand over his face.

“Why would Liam need you in Cordonia?”

Riley’s voice rang out, drawing his attention back to the kitchen. She stood there, clutching the bag of dog food in her hands.

“There was another attack.”

“Oh my God! Is everyone alright?”

“Yeah, no injuries. Applewood orchards were the target.”

Riley nodded, seeming to be processing the info. Drake stood up to help her pack up the rest of their crap, but she wasn’t moving from her spot in the kitchen.

“Liu?”

Her eyes jumped to his, but she said nothing.

“Riley, what is it?”

She let out a sigh, “It’s nothing really.”

“Come on, don’t do that. Spit it out.”

“It’s just… were you going to ask me how I felt about you heading to Cordonia?”

Drake paused at that. _She_ had been the one to bring up his going back after the first attack. Why was this an issue now? “I thought you already gave your blessing. Not that I need it.”

“No, of course not, but isn’t this something we should discuss?”

“Where the hell is this coming from, Liu? _You_ were the one encouraging me to go before.”

“I know, but you said you weren’t going. I am just trying to figure out what changed, other than you getting a job and actually settling into a life here with me.”

“Come on, this has nothing to do with you and everything to do with Liam.”

“So my needs are second to Liam’s?”

“Dammit, that’s not fair. This is your home, you got a job, you have friends here. Liam is dealing with some actual life or death shit.”

“Ah yes, all my close friends that I’ve spent so much time with. Oh wait, who have I spent time with besides you? One lunch with Daniel is not some vast social network.”

“Liu, what fight are we even having here? This all feels really pointless considering he basically forbid me from coming back.”

“He what?”

“He told me I should stay here.”

“When?”

“After the first attack.”

Riley’s eyes fluttered closed at that. She took several deep breaths before she opened them, snapping back to his eyes in an instant. They somehow felt harsher, more judgemental. Drake wasn’t sure what had changed. How they had stumbled into this fight. Last night was so good. He’d felt so connected to her. Now… well he wasn’t sure what the fuck was going on.

“Why didn’t you tell me that he told you not to come?” Her voice was so much smaller than he’d heard in a long time. She sounded so unsure, so not like Riley.

“My issues with Liam aren’t yours.”

“Except that _I_ caused these problems. And more than that, I _want_ to know if something is bothering you. We’re supposed to be a team, us against the world, that sort of thing.”

Drake stepped up to her, tentatively placing his hand on her shoulder. At least she didn’t seem to mind that. “I’m not going to be a burden to you.”

“Drake, you will never be a burden to me, but you’ve got to keep letting me in.”

“It’s not that-”

A harsh noise startled them both. His phone was vibrating on the counter, the name “Bastien” flashing across the screen. He sighed, looking at her.

“Go ahead and take it,” she said, stepping away from him, starting to pile their few belongings into a tote bag.

“Hey, Bastien,”

“Drake, glad you picked up. We need to talk.”

“Look, Liam already told me about Applewood. Sounds like the Liberation Core’s MO, doesn’t it?”

“I didn’t call to discuss theories. I unfortunately need to let you know that the Cordonian press has approached us with a video of you and Ms. Liu.”

“What sort of video?”

“You are in an elevator and er, kissing rather passionately.”

What the hell. Could today be any more of a mess? Drake struggled to process everything. “That’s from less than 12 hours ago, Bastien.”

“Well then, someone is clearly still interested in you two, because that video was obviously sought out and not just incidentally found. Listen, the king is too polite to say anything, but you two need to lay low for awhile. The last thing he needs is for there to be any further drama surrounding his court, what with Madeleine and her recent losses.”

“What are you talking about, Bastien?”

A knock on the door interrupted his conversation. Riley scrambled to let in Shaina, having just collected all their bags and luggage near the couch.

“Bastien, I have to go. Can I call you later?”

“I’ve got meetings for most of the rest of the day. I’ll get in touch with you, okay? Just try to not give the media anything, alright?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

And suddenly, he was turning over keys, and they were grabbing their few belongings and luggage. The rental had never really felt like home, but it felt strange to leave it all the same.

“You ready?” Riley asked, looking at him from the doorway.

With a nod, they were off. As he and Riley left the rental and made their way to the subway to get to her apartment, he couldn’t help looking over his shoulder. They were the opposite of subtle at this point, with all their luggage, bags filled with crap they had bought over the past week and a half, and an eager corgi wiggling around in Riley’s giant purse. Pretty hard to keep a low profile. It put Drake on edge, knowing that whoever was watching them could easily be waiting for them. They clearly knew where they were staying, and now they could follow them without any problem to her permanent address.

Riley kept looking at him, surely sensing his agitation on the short train ride.

“What the hell has you so jumpy?” she finally asked.

Drake just shook his head.

Riley sighed at that, “Look, if you’re pissed at me about what I said this morning, we can talk about it. It’s not like this is some-”

“It’s not that, Liu. Just, can we wait to get off the train until the last second?”

Her eyes widened at that, head turning slightly to the side as she quickly worked through the implications of his request. She nodded in agreement, eyes scanning their fellow passengers.

As they walked the few blocks from their subway stop to her apartment, Drake kept glancing around. There was no one clearly following them, but that didn’t really mean anything on a sidewalk as crowded as this one. It was only a couple of minutes before Riley stopped in front of a brick building with a market occupying the ground floor.

“This is it. It’s a fourth floor walkup, so do you need me to carry anything else?”

Drake shook his head, adjusting his grip on the bag of dog food. “Do you need your subleaser to let us in?”

“Nah, he has the spare set of keys. Hey, I guess they’re your keys, now,” she said as she unlocked a door off to the side of the market, leading them inside an up a narrow stairway.

Drake liked to think he was in decent shape, but between the luggage and his lack of exercise on the engagement tour, he was ashamed to admit that he was a bit winded by the time they reached the door labeled 4B. As Riley knocked on the door, Drake glanced around the hallway. Riley hadn’t been kidding when she recommended he not get used to the rental they were in. Here, the paint was peeling, the window at the end of the hallway let in no light, and everything just seemed older and more rundown. The sound of several locks being unlocked also did little to reassure him.

A young man opened the door. “You must be Riley! Come on in, my boyfriend should be here to get the last of my stuff any minute.”

They squeezed through the door, all awkwardly standing around with little to talk about after the young man handed Riley his set of keys. Riley filled the time with some small talk, but Drake instead in took in his surroundings. The apartment was small, but that almost went without saying. There wasn’t much room for anything besides the bed, a small armchair, a dresser, and a desk. The kitchen was outdated, but looked functional enough. The were two doors off the the side, presumably a small bathroom, and a smaller closet. Riley had clearly worked hard to maximize storage, with numerous shelves attached to the walls. There was little in the way of personal touches that made it clear whose apartment this was. No photos or trinkets. No paintings on the walls. The only thing that caught is eye was the bright green blanket on the bed.

After a few minutes, the awaited boyfriend arrived. The two quickly bid them goodbye, grabbing the remaining suitcase and couple of boxes. Then, he and Riley were all alone.

It was strange, being in this space that had been hers before he knew her. This apartment was evidence of her life before they met, a time period he knew shockingly little about. He had no idea how to navigate this setup. Even though he was living here now, it certainly didn’t feel like his place. He was more like an awkward house guest. He didn’t know where to place their luggage. Did she have a preference? A system? Was it okay for him to sit in the chair?

Riley also seemed to be struggling to adjust to the surroundings. She had placed the things she was carrying down on her desk and let Anderson out of her bag, but she mainly seemed to be soaking things in. She certainly wasn’t making any moves to start unpacking.

Eventually, she must have felt him staring at her, because she walked the few steps over to him, grabbing the dog food out of his arms and handing him a set of keys instead. “The big silver one is for the building entrance, the gold one is for the door lock, and the small silver one is for the deadbolt.”

Drake nodded, eyes dropping to the key ring. He tested the weight in his hand, trying to process that these were his new keys. This was home now, whether it felt like it or not.

“So, was someone actually following us on the train, or did your conversation with Bastien just have you spooked?”

Her question interrupted his thoughts. “I didn’t see anyone following us, but someone was last night.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah, they went to the press with video of us.”

“Are they just doing this to mess with Liam?”

“I don’t know, Liu. But I don’t like it, the thought of someone following you.”

“Well, obviously. But at least they don’t seem to want to hurt us, right?”

“I hope that’s the case. Still, we gotta be careful, and we probably should watch ourselves in public.”

Riley didn’t respond at first, seeming to think about what he just told her, but after a few moments, she said, “Whatever will we do to entertain ourselves in the apartment, then?” stepping right up to him, looping her arms around his neck.

The remaining bags tumbled off his shoulders, down to the floor as their lips met. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that they should probably talk about this morning, but as they stumbled toward her bed, those thoughts were rapidly becoming harder to keep track of. This just felt too damn good. 

* * *

“Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions, Lady Olivia. We’ll stay in touch?” Bastien’s words pulled Liam’s attention from the intelligence reports he had been skimming. He hadn’t known that Bastien intended to have his interview with Olivia today. He glanced over and saw Olivia roll her eyes before responding in the affirmative. She was heading toward the exit of the wing of offices when she seemed to notice his presence for the first time.

“Liam!”

“Goodday, Lady Olivia.”

She strolled over to him, glancing over the paperwork strewn across the table. “What keeps His Majesty so occupied that he had to leave Bastien to question the traitorous Nevrakis?”

Liam sighed. He knew she wasn’t going to take the investigation well. While he had no suspicions towards Olivia with regards to these attacks, he hadn’t been able to put off Bastien’s insistence that they question every possible lead any longer. “I’m sorry, Liv.”

The corner of her mouth quirked up at the use of her childhood nickname, and her next words were laced with considerably less venom. “I get it. Bastien’s just covering all the bases.”

“If it’s any consolation, I have never suspected you of any involvement with these attacks.”

“Thanks, Liam.” Olivia turned to leave, but another question occurred to Liam. He grabbed her wrist, halting her in her tracks. Her eyes flew to his, locking in with a burning intensity.

“Olivia, you aren’t having a PI follow Riley, are you?”

Her eyes narrowed, boring into his, a fierce heat nearly frightening Liam. “Why the hell would I care about her anymore?”

Liam glanced around the room. Several security agents were at their desks, and while none of them appeared to be paying any attention to the two of them, he knew better than to assume that they weren’t being closely observed. “Let’s head to my office.”

Olivia followed his gaze, quickly nodding in agreement and following him into a more private setting. Once there, she wasted no time in letting him know her uncensored thoughts on the matter. “I don’t give a flying fuck what Riley is doing with goddamn Drake Walker. Why the fuck would I waste any energy on those two when there is an actual crisis here in my home?”

Liam sighed. He should have never asked, but he knew that Olivia had hired investigators in the past, as recently as the social season in fact. There was no possible motivation at this time that he could figure, but he just wanted to get to the bottom of this. Clearly, this approach had been a mistake.

“What did they find on her?”

Her question cut through his thoughts. He should have seen this question coming. His inquiries about a PI was a clear admission that _someone_ had been tailing Riley.

“Not much, just a security video.”

“Of?”

“Her and Drake in an elevator. Ana de Luca reached out to my office for comment.”

“How, er, intimate of a video are we talking?”

Liam shook his head, “Nothing quite so scandalous, fortunately.”

“Still couldn’t have been pleasant to see.”

“No, not exactly.”

“What did you say?”

“I thought it would be best for Bastien to inform Drake.”

“I meant to Ana de Luca.”

“Ah, yes. I told her I was far more concerned with halting any future terrorist attacks than I was about the romantic relations of two private citizens.”

The fact that the two private citizens in question were his ex and his best friend hung in the air, the tension nearly palpable. While Olivia had a habit of running her mouth according to Drake, Liam had not experienced such behavior from her since they were much younger. It rather surprised him that she censored herself, as he was sure she had strong opinions on most matters. As if she could read his thoughts, she suddenly blurted out, “Fuck ‘em. I give it two months, tops.”

Liam felt the corners of his mouth sliding up at her attempt to cheer him up, as misguided as it was, “No, I still care about them both. I want them to be happy together.”

“Yeah, okay. Good friend answer noted. Now tell me how you actually feel.”

“That is how I actually feel.”

“Maybe in part, but you can’t tell me a little part of you would like to stab them both.”

“Olivia!” Liam laughed. He was sure she was kidding, or at least mostly kidding.

“Fine, maybe not stab them, but at least punch them. Come on, I’m not going to tell anyone what you say, but you can’t just sit on these feelings. Trust me, letting it out is good for the soul.”

Liam paused. It would be nice to talk to someone, anyone. Olivia must have sensed him wearing down, because she walked around behind his desk, “You must have emergency liquor back here somewhere. I’ll even drink whiskey if that’s the behavior you need in the people you confide in.”

“Bottom drawer,” he chuckled, sitting down on one of the couches. Soon, Olivia was passing him a glass with a very generous pour of the amber liquid. She sat down on the opposite couch, surprisingly carrying her own glass of whiskey.

“Alright, let me work on my Drake impression,” she said before clearing her throat, “You and this whiskey are the only things I don’t hate here.”

“Spot on.”

“Now, be honest. When is she going to realize she made an insane mistake?”

“No, don’t go there Olivia.”

“Oh come on. By _all_ measures you are a better choice than Drake Walker.”

“Don’t talk about him like that. He’s a good man, and love is not exactly a logical process.”

Olivia rolled her eyes, “Love? Really? You’re telling me this isn’t lust-driven? You don’t see this fizzling out in a few months?”

“I think it’s likely love. In a weird way, I think it’ll hurt less if they stay together. Does that make any sense?”

Olivia squinted at him, taking a sip of her whiskey but quickly making a face and setting the glass aside. “Not really, if I’m honest. If my best friend started sleeping with my partner, I’d want them both dead.”

“But that’s not a fair comparison. I am engaged to someone else, and Riley told me a few times that it made her very uncomfortable.”

“But your engagement is just political. You told her you still wanted her, right?”

“I did, but she never made me any promises. As I think back on things, I wonder how much I saw because I wanted to see it.”

“It’s still a betrayal, Liam. From both of them.”

It was a harsh truth, but without Drake in his life, there were few who he could trust to tell him those, and this was one he probably should hear. He let Olivia’s words wash over him, soaking into his mind as he stared into his glass for a few moments before he responded, “Maybe, but I think that’s oddly why I want them to work out. If they stay together, get married, have children, then they hurt me to build a life together. If they don’t, well then, what was it all for? Am I making any sense?”

Olivia didn’t answer him for what felt like an eternity, the weight of the silence hanging in the air. Eventually, he looked up from his whiskey to find her staring right at him, biting her lip. “Yeah,” she breathed out, quieter than Liam had heard her in years, “I get it. It’s better to be rejected by someone you love for something real, than…” She trailed off at that, looking to the side and blinking away tears.

“Olivia,” Liam walked over, joining her on her couch, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. He wasn’t sure what personal experience she was reflecting on here, but here they were, joined in heartbreak.

“I’m sorry,” she said shaking her head, “this was supposed to be a chance for you to talk about your problems, not deal with my shit.”

“It’s okay, Liv. Maybe we both need someone we can talk to.”

‘What, you’re not having nightly heart to hearts with Madeleine?” she teased, wiping away a stray tear and sliding out from his arm, putting some distance between them.

“Not often, no, although we did have quite the chat about her court last night. I recognize that the timing is far from ideal here, but I have a favor to ask you in that regard.”

“What is it?”

“Would you consider joining Madeleine’s court?”

A burst of laughter rang through the room, growing in intensity as Olivia fully processed his request.

“I take it that’s a ‘no’ then?”

“That’s a hell no! Liam, you’re lucky I tolerate her presence.”

“It’s just that with Lady Kiara and Lady Penelope returning home, her court does little to convey any stability. The presence of a prominent duchess would really be beneficial to us.”

“No, I will happily show my face at events you need me at to show the support of Lythikos, but there is nothing on this planet that would convince me to be under her thumb.”

Liam sighed. He knew this would be a long shot when he asked, but he was running out of options. Madeleine had done little to endear herself to the women of court, and the absence of two such prominent members was likely to cause others to leave as well. “Fair enough. Thank you for hearing me out. Regardless of your feelings on Madeleine, I would like to ask you to come to Applewood with us tomorrow.”

“Of course, Liam. I have no problem extending my support to you.”

“Just not my fiancée.”

“We both know that says more about your judgement than it does me.”

With that, she rose from the couch without so much as a backward glance. As the door shut behind her, Liam downed her glass of whiskey, a nice gesture that she had barely touched. She certainly gave him a lot to think about. Unfortunately, he couldn’t afford to be alone with these thoughts. Instead, he strode over to his desk, hoping in vain that some trade proposals would provide an adequate distraction.

* * *

Hana sank into the pool, letting the steam seep into her pores. The warm water soothed her muscles. Whether they were sore from stress or from the digging and planting during photo op at Applewood was unclear. Regardless of the origin, she was ready for some stress relief, and when Maxwell had suggested that they head to the spa, she had jumped at the opportunity. Or rather, she had jumped at the opportunity when he made it clear that Madeleine was not invited.

The visit to Applewood today had been the first time that Hana had to spend any time with Madeleine since she proposed an affair. Hana had initially assumed that Madeleine would remove her from court after her emphatic rejection, but it had become clear that with Kiara and Penelope returning to their respective homes, Madeleine could not afford to have all three core members of her court leave in the wake of the attacks, even if Hana did not carry anywhere near as much clout as the others. Hana suspected that Liam probably interceded on her behalf, as Madeleine’s vindictive streak was not likely entirely quashed by the need for the Crown to convey some semblance of stability.

The time at Applewood was uncomfortable, with Madeleine talking to Hana only when absolutely needed, and Olivia making numerous thinly veiled insults to Madeleine. Everyone was stiff and awkward, and more so than usual. Maxwell had attempted to lighten the mood, but between the devastation at the orchards and the numerous frayed relationships, the whole day was excruciating. Hana was so pleased to take a moment to relax and unwind with Maxwell. She would have happily invited Liam, but Maxwell decided against it, stating he would have to invite Madeleine if he asked Liam, so it was just the two of them. It amazed Hana the way their friend group had fractured so rapidly.

Suddenly, the door from the men’s changing room swung open, Maxwell entering and climbing into the pool next to Hana. “Sorry for the delay,” he said, “Bertrand needed some talking off the ledge.”

“Is everything okay? Do you need me to find a different place to stay?”

“No! It has nothing to do with you. He just is a complete idiot when it comes to women.”

“I take it things are still strained with Savannah?”

“That’s an understatement. They are both terrible at talking to one another. Instead, they talk to me all the time.”

“Oh, Maxwell. I’m so sorry.”

“Nah, it’s fine. I just wish they could sort things out on their own, instead of using me as a very unqualified couples counselor.”

“So, they are together?”

“Sort of, I guess? Savannah seems to think so, but Bertrand keeps insisting they aren’t.”

“Oh no!”

“Yeah, it’s not exactly ideal. Savannah keeps hinting that she wants to move into the estate, but I’m not sure that’s a great idea with where the two of them stand.”

“Has she told Bertrand she wants to move in?”

“No, but oddly enough, I think he would be all in favor. He really wants to spend more time with Bartie, plus not having to pay the rent on her apartment would be a nice bonus. I just think their actual relationship won’t survive moving in together at this point.”

One part of his venting stuck out to Hana, “How bad are your finances, Maxwell? I don’t want to be a freeloader, so I’m-”

“Stop, Hana! _You_ are nowhere near the issue. We’ve had some pretty bad money problems for a while now, and while supporting Savannah doesn’t make things easier, it’s obviously the right thing to do. Plus, that’s not exactly a change.”

“I do want to help you out, though. I want to work, find a way to be productive.”

“Don’t worry about us, Hana. I’ve got some plans in the works. The Beaumonts are going to be just fine. I’ll make sure of it.”

“Fair enough, but I _do_ want to find some work. I want to make a difference in the world. I thought I could make a difference at court, but with Madeleine…”

“Being bitter about how things went between you two?”

“Yes, well, I just don’t know if I see myself having a role here long term.”

“What do you see yourself doing?”

“I’m not sure, to be honest, and I’m finally starting to feel okay with that.”

Maxwell gave her a big smile, patting her on the arm. “Atta girl, Hana. Embrace the unknown!”

Hana smiled back at him, “I used to just assume I would get married, supporting my husband behind the scenes, but now there are so many possibilities ahead of me. It is overwhelming, but in the best way possible.”

“You could go to university. According to Riley, that’s where American young adults go to either figure out what they want to do, or delay having to figure out what they want to do if they come from rich families.”

“I already have a Bachelor of Arts in English literature. As enjoyable as I found my studies, they aren’t exactly designed for career building.”

“No way, I got my degree in literature, too! High five for degree twins!” Maxwell laughed.

Hana joined in, his laughter infectious. This, a few hours of carefree relaxation, was just what she needed. Her life had changed so drastically over the past several months, that every so often, it was nice to pause and just take a breath. She could figure out her future later. Right now was all about unwinding with a dear friend.

* * *

Riley turned the key, trying to make as little noise as possible. She wasn’t sure if Drake would still be awake, but she didn’t want to chance waking him up if he had gone to bed. It was clear that he was a much lighter sleeper than her. Truthfully, she’d hoped that he was still awake. She wanted to hear how his first day at the diner had been.

She really wished he would have joined her tonight. Monday’s were always her night off, and she’d agreed to meet Daniel and some of the old crew out for dinner and drinks. Obviously, Drake would have probably missed dinner, but she had texted him the name of the bar they went to after. His only response was to tell her to have fun and that he’d see her later.

Yes, doing something apart from Drake was probably healthy. She didn’t want to be the girl who only spent time with her boyfriend, but she’d thought this would be a nice chance for Drake to get to know some people besides her. But she knew Drake was a lot more introverted than she was, and she didn’t want to push him. Maybe he just wanted a little time to himself. The size of the apartment didn’t really give either of them any privacy.

Nudging open the door gently, she continued to move quietly as all the lights were off. It proved to be in vain, though, as Anderson bounded off the armchair he had claimed as his own and trotted over to her, butt wiggling and tags jangling the entire way. Sure enough, Drake rolled over and fumbled for the light when he saw her in the doorway.

“Sorry, I was going to wait up, but I got tired.”

“It’s fine,” said Riley, closing the door and crouching down to scratch Anderson between the ears. Satisfied with the attention, he turned around, waddling back over the the chair and jumping up. He spun around three times before settling back down, head flung over the armrest.

“How were your friends?”

“Good. It was Daniel, Marcus, and Sarah, plus a couple people I vaguely knew from the bar I worked at a couple years back. How was work?”

“Fine,” Drake said, yawning widely.

“I didn’t mean to wake you, we can chat tomorrow, okay?”

Drake nodded, sinking back onto his pillow. As Riley went to get ready for bed in the bathroom, she couldn’t help but think about how stilted her conversations with Drake became over the past couple of days. Ever since they’d teetered on the edge of a fight before leaving the Airbnb, it was like they’d both been scared of venturing into that territory again. As much as she hated to admit it, the fact the Drake only hadn’t returned to Cordonia because Liam told him not to upset her. She wasn’t sure if it was the fact that he had kept that info from her, or if it simply was the evidence that Liam clearly mattered more to him than she did. A large part of her knew that she wasn’t being fair. Liam obviously had a ton to handle right now, so wanting to go support his best friend was a reasonable desire. But she couldn’t help feeling like she was a lower priority, just like she had been most of her life.

The thought of Drake putting that sentiment into words was terrifying, and for his part, he didn’t seem to be in any hurry to delve into the uncomfortable topics either. She knew he had to feel out of place in New York, but he seemed to be walking on eggshells around her, as if a fight would be something they never recovered from.

Realistically, it was a discussion that needed to happen. Riley knew this, but everything just felt so fragile and tentative. It honestly seemed like really talking to one another would send him to the airport to catch the first plane to Cordonia.

So instead of talking, they had sex. Sure, some of their desire came from the fact that they had not been together very long. But it also was a great way to steer the conversation away from uncomfortable topics. The number of times they’d fucked this weekend would look like an insane honeymoon phase to an outside observer, but Riley knew that a honeymoon phase should not be littered with numerous emotional minefields. Still, that physical intimacy was an amazing band aid. Riley just wasn’t sure how long that could last.

After taking out her contacts, she tiptoed out of the bathroom, flipping off the lamp before climbing into her side of the bed. She tried to slow her thoughts and relax toward sleep, but her mind kept racing.

“Goodnight, Riley,”

Riley was surprised. She’d assumed he’d been asleep. They both lay there, still and silent for a few moments, before she replied.

“Goodnight, Drake.”


	9. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As tensions between Drake and Riley reach a breaking point, they are forced to deal with worsening issues in Cordonia.

Drake stared at the little box sitting on the counter. He shouldn’t have bought them. He knew that. But they were just there, behind the counter at the market, and so damn tempting. So instead of just grabbing milk, coffee, and the granola bars Riley liked, he’d picked up a pack of Marlboro’s as well.

He hadn’t had a cigarette in over a year and hadn’t really been a smoker since right after he left university. But every so often, he just really craved one. The stress relief, the momentary reprieve from the rest of the world. Today was one of those days. So he bought a pack on impulse.

He picked up the pack, opening the box and tapping one out. This was a terrible idea. He had quit for a reason. Lots of reasons, actually. But right now, none of them seemed quite good enough not to have one. 

He pulled out his lighter from his pocket, but he realized he had no idea how Riley felt about smoking. He probably shouldn’t light up in her apartment. Looking around, an idea came to him. Unlatching the window, he climbed over her desk and out onto the fire escape. The metal was a bit rusty, but seemed sturdy enough. He leaned against the railing, taking in the busy street below as he flicked his lighter and took that first drag. There really was nothing like it.

A light metallic tinkering drew his attention back toward the apartment. Anderson had hopped up on Riley’s desk, clearly interested in where Drake had gone. He was now standing at the edge of the window, torn between his fear of jumping down to the fire escape and his interest in seeing what Drake was doing.

“Woah, boy. You should probably stay there,” said Drake, taking a step back, leaning against the building, and reaching down to scratch the dog between his ears.

It was only a Thursday night, but all that bullshit about New York being the city that never sleeps appeared to be true. Riley’s apartment was in an area with lots of bars and restaurants, and every night, the din of drunken fools stumbling around, yelling, either at each other or a taxi, never seemed to stop. It was sometimes loud enough to wake him up numerous times, even through a closed window. He hadn’t had a good night’s sleep since leaving the rental, with it’s blissful 18th floor location, far too high for voices and traffic to reach.

He was sure his poor sleep wasn’t doing much to improve his mood, but if he was honest, it was more than just being tired. He just felt shittier with each day that went by. He knew he should be happier than he was. He was with Riley. She’d accepted him into her life so wholly. But it felt like he was just playing at being the boyfriend. Like he was an awkward tag-along in her world. She had friends, pulled in tips at the bar without batting an eyelash, and then had to come home to a grumpy boyfriend who could barely be trusted to find his way anywhere in the city.

He’d hoped that once he started working he might feel like he belonged here more. That having a job would somehow help him fit in. But it hadn’t made much of a difference. Sure, it was preferable to having to put on a dress shirt and tie and lie through his teeth about why he was passionate about data processing or where he saw himself in five years, but work at the diner was still hard. While Drake could cook, he was not remotely used to the volume and speed that he needed to keep up with the lunch rush. At this point he wasn’t sure if George kept him around out of pity or because he was truly that desperate.

And then there was the guilt. Ignorantly, he’d hoped it would start to fade, but why would it? He’d failed Liam in every way possible over the past few weeks. Actually, the betrayal began months ago. He never should have let anything happen with Riley. _That_ was where his mistake was. What a fool he was back during the social season, thinking he could just be friends with her. Thinking kissing her would scratch that itch and allow him to stop obsessing. But after he started, he couldn’t stop. Every moment after the wine cellar at Olivia’s felt like gravity as he was drawn closer and closer to her, and he’d been powerless to stop it.

If he’d just kept his distance from her, then he would be there for Liam now. The press was turning on him. Several op eds had popped up over the past few days, criticizing his response to the initial attack at the Homecoming Ball, bemoaning his lack of action, and subsequently faulting him for the Applewood burning. Plus, the video of him and Riley in the elevator had been used to imply that Liam was distracted by personal affairs and not focused enough on national security. There hadn’t been any new polling numbers released this week, but the next ones were going to be bad.

As Drake lit up a second cigarette, he tried to figure out who Liam even could turn to at this point. Maybe Maxwell had stepped up to the plate, but he had his own shit to deal with for House Beaumont. And it’s not like Madeleine and Liam had the type of relationship where they actually talked to one another. Liam probably had no one at this point. He should have been there. But Liam didn’t want him there. Because he had fucked everything up.

Drake was actually surprised that Riley hadn’t mentioned the fact that Liam had told him not to come back to Cordonia since they left the rental. She’d seemed upset that he hadn’t told her, but he wasn’t trying to keep it from her or anything. He just didn’t want to burden her. It was bad enough that she chose to be with a man who could barely hold down a job that would just cover half the rent of her closet of an apartment. The last thing she needed was to be his emotional guardian. He was a enough of a grumpy asshole as it was. He didn’t need to weigh her down more.

To make matters worse, he knew he handled bad situations poorly. He became sullen and bitter, shut himself off to those around him. That’s probably why Savannah had fled the country instead of coming to him for help when she was pregnant. Of course, he’d failed her again by not being there for her now, when she chose to come back to Cordonia. She was attempting to reconnect, and he was an ocean away.

God, he was really pathetic, moping around. Why was it that everyone else he knew could handle the stress when things got tough, but he just shoved everyone away? Maxwell could make a joke and bounce back with endless energy. Hana had stood up to her father like a champ. And Liam, well he always had to deal with the worst stressors of them all. Sure, he tended to internalize it, but at least he didn’t let his problems burden those around him. Liam would never have a girlfriend who would need to walk on eggshells to not set off his sullen temper.

He couldn’t help but wonder how much easier Riley’s life would be if she’d gone back to Cordonia to be with Liam instead of throwing it all away to live in a tiny studio with his sorry ass. His doubts weren’t so bad when they were together, but when he was alone and had time to think, which was often these days, he couldn’t help but wonder why she chose him. Why _anyone_ in her position would chose him.

He wasn’t sure how long he stood out there, essentially chain smoking, but it had to be hours. At some point he climbed back in to pour himself some whiskey, but he was soon back out on the fire escape, smoking another cigarette. He was jittery from all the nicotine when it was time to leave to get down to the bar before the end of Riley’s shift. He got there just as she was clocking out. She smiled when she saw him, but he was sure his smile in return was a poor imitation. She seemed to be assessing him, staring at him intently when she met him at the door with her jacket, but she didn’t say anything.

They walked out onto the street and made it about a block before Riley leaned in and smelled his sleeve.

“Why do you smell like cigarettes?”

“I uh, picked up a pack.”

“You’re a smoker?” she asked, eyebrows cocked in confusion.

He shrugged, “Does it matter?”

“Not really, I just didn’t realize you smoked.”

“I basically quit a few years ago.”

“So what made you decide today was the day you needed to start smoking again?”

“Not sure, saw them at the market-”

“Bodega”

“What?”

“It’s a bodega, not a market.”

“Whatever. Does it really matter what I call it? I saw them behind the counter at whatever the fuck you want to call the store where I buy our food and decided I wanted a pack, so I bought them. Is that a problem?”

She bit her lip for just a moment, clearly working out what she wanted to say next. “No, it’s not a problem. But you just told me you’d quit, I’ve never seen you smoke before, even when we’re drinking, and I just have to wonder if something happened today.”

“Jesus, Liu. Not everything I do is motivated by some deeper issue. I wanted a smoke, so I bought a pack.”

They reached her building at that point, and Drake unlocked the door and headed up the stairs briskly, not bothering to hold the door for Riley. He was physically tired and just fucking done with this conversation. By the time he reached her apartment, she had fallen a bit behind, but he heard her approaching as he unlocked the door, so he didn’t bother to shut it behind him. He had barely shrugged off his shirt and was digging through his suitcase for a clean t-shirt for bed when he heard her close the door.

“You shouldn’t leave the door open. Anderson could get out.”

“I heard you right behind me, Liu.”

“Drake, it’s-”

“Look, I’m completely exhausted. Can we just go to bed?”

“No.”

“Come on, Riley,” he sighed, finally pulling on an old Cordonia Football shirt.

“No, you come on, Drake. We are in the middle of a conversation, and I need you to fucking talk to me.”

“Are we in the middle of a conversation, or are we in the middle of you judging me for smoking a couple of cigarettes?”

“Will you at least look at me?”

Drake spun on his heels to face her, frustration ready to boil over. It was after 1:00, and he had to be up in less than seven hours. She would get to sleep in as late as she wanted while he walked her dog, cooked her food, and went to work, so of course it was no issue for her to stay up. But he just wanted to go to bed.

“Really? You aren’t going to say anything to me?” asked Riley when he refused to engage.

“You’re the one who wants to keep talking, so I figured you must have _something_ to say. I already told you I just want to sleep.”

She shook her head, “You acting like this is really not doing a great job of convincing me that you’re fine and that you just randomly decided to take up smoking again.”

“Well sorry I’m not some poet who can craft you an ode about my emotional state. I told you I’m fine. Either you believe me or you don’t.”

“I don’t. I just want you to tell me what’s wrong.”

“Right now the only thing that’s wrong is that you are annoying the shit out of me.”

“Nice,” she said dryly, shaking her head in frustration.

“What? I thought you wanted me to open up about what’s wrong? This stupid fight is what’s wrong.”

“Bullshit, Drake. You came down to the bar already upset.”

“Well, if you’ve figured everything about me out already, why don’t you save us both some time and just tell me what the fuck is wrong so that I can get some goddamn sleep?”

“I don’t know _what_ is wrong, but it’s obvious _something_ is.”

“Did it ever occur to you that maybe I don’t want to talk about it?”

“But if something’s bothering you, I want to know about it.”

“I’m not some damn charity case, Liu. I don’t need your pity.”

“Who said anything about pity? I just wanted to hear what has you so upset.”

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew he wasn’t being fair to Riley. That his anger had almost nothing to do with her and everything to do with his own failings. But right now, that didn’t matter. He was tired and if she couldn’t accept that as a reason not to do this now, then he was not going to censor himself.

“You think I’m happy here? You think I like knowing no one in a city I can barely navigate while my sister and best friend need support back home?” She flinched at little at the end of that sentence, but he wasn’t done. “You think I should put on a happy face like Liam does when he’s upset? Well, sorry to disappoint, but I’m not him”

“Of course you’re not him. I never _asked_ you to be him. All I want is for you to tell me what the fuck is going on in your head instead of sulking around my apartment. If you’re upset, I don’t need you to pretend to be happy about it; you just need to tell me you’re pissed.”

“Newsflash, Liu - I’m pissed!” he yelled, “My job pays next to nothing and I suck at it, I never see you, my best friend barely talks to me anymore, and I hate this noisy, crowded city!”

“And that’s supposed to be my fault?”

“Of course not! You’re the one who’s trying to make this about you!”

“How is asking what’s upsetting you making it about me? I just thought you might want someone to talk to. Sorry for caring,” she sneered.

“Don’t do that. I told you I was tired and that I didn’t want to talk tonight. You’re the one who insisted on doing this now, so don’t play that ‘woe is me’ card. Did you even stop to think that I might just be a little bit homesick? Just because you didn’t have anyone to miss when you came to Cordonia doesn’t mean the rest of us can be so carefree. I have people depending on me at home where there have been terrorist attacks, and I’m sorry if you can’t understand why that might put me on edge!”

“This is why I said it was a bad idea for you to move here,” she said as tears started to trail down her cheeks, “If you’re so miserable, just leave. It’s clear that’s what you’ve been dying to do anyway. I mean, you never even bothered to unpack your suitcase. I don’t even you why you’ve stayed here as long as you have.”

“Oh, don’t play dumb. You know I’m here for you.”

“Well, you’re doing a shitty job of showing it.”

A silence hung in the apartment after that. Drake stared at Riley, who was crying in earnest now. “ _What have I done_?” he thought in horror. He moved toward her to apologize, but Riley just shook her head.

“You can take the bed. I’ll just curl up in the armchair.”

“No, Riley. I’m sor-”

“Unless you’d rather just catch a flight to Cordonia. It doesn’t matter to me, but if you could make up your mind while I’m getting ready for bed, that’d be great. I don’t want to yell anymore and upset the neighbors.”

With that, she spun around and strode into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

“Fuck,” whispered Drake under his breath. How had he let this happen? This was bad. He’d screwed this up so horribly. This wasn’t some minor spat over who was supposed to pay the electric bill. This was an ugly, dirty, brutal beat down by him while she was just trying to be supportive.

Sinking down on the end of the bed, he ran his hands over his face. He needed to apologize to her, but it was pretty clear she had no interest in talking to him at the moment. He didn’t blame her. Quite frankly, he wasn’t even sure where to begin with his apology, and in both their current emotional states, he didn’t trust himself not to fuck things up even worse. The only thing he knew was that there was no way in hell he was making her give up the bed.

His first instinct was to leave and give her some privacy, but she would probably interpret that as him leaving _her_ , which was the last thing he wanted to do. He glanced around the room. There weren’t a lot of options for him. Figuring he couldn’t do anything else, he placed her desk chair at the end of the arm chair like an ottoman, grabbed the pillow from his side of her bed, and plunked himself down. Anderson objected to this use of the chair, nudging Drake’s legs with his snout repeatedly until he got up and placed him on the bed. With the dog settled, Drake climbed back onto his makeshift cot, trying to find a comfortable position.

Eventually, he heard Riley come out of the bathroom. Her footsteps paused, but after a few seconds he heard the creak of the mattress as Riley settled into bed. She clicked off the light, covering the room in a tense darkness. Eventually, Drake noticed her breathing settle into a slower, steadier pattern. At least one of them was going to get some sleep that night.

* * *

Riley bounced on the balls of her feet, checking her phone for the time. Even though she’d never asked him to do it, Drake had always been at the bar when she got off work. She’d hoped that the coffee and breakfast he’d left for her this morning meant that he was ready to make up, but there was no sign of him, and her shift had ended four minutes ago.

Honestly, she’d been surprised when she woke up and saw Drake’s suitcase still sitting on top of her dresser, a pair of jeans hanging over the edge. She was even more shocked when she found a mug of coffee with a splash of cream waiting for her on the bathroom sink on top of a piece of paper that read “Sorry. I know I’m an ass.” He’d also wrapped up an omelette for her in the fridge. Clearly, he’d been trying to apologize, but she’d slept through him leaving for work.

Even though he’d stayed last night, part of her had been convinced he was only there because there wasn’t a flight until the morning, and he had nowhere else to go. As awful as some of the things he’d said had made her feel, even in the moment she knew that telling him to leave had been a mistake on her part. She’d never really wanted him to leave. It was a huge relief that he hadn’t. The fact that he’d somehow contorted himself to sleep on both of her chairs had to mean that he wanted to stay and make things better, right?

She wasn’t blameless in the whole fight. Deciding that it was time to have that discussion when he’d been up for nearly 20 hours was obviously ill-advised, and when he’d actually revealed his feelings, she’d made it all about her, half crippled by her fear that she would never be someone’s first priority, half attempting to brace herself for the pain of when he eventually left. Neither one of them had acted wisely, both had thrown out things they shouldn’t say. She was ready to apologize for her share and talk about things calmly, and she’d thought his peace offerings had meant the same for him. So where was he?

Scrolling through her notifications, she saw that she’d missed a couple of calls from Drake and Maxwell. She tried to call Drake back, but he didn’t pick up, and he hadn’t left any voicemails. Maxwell had left one, though.

“Riley, I wasn’t sure if you were at work yet or not. I tried to get in touch with Drake, but he’s not picking up his phone. Look, there was a bombing at the palace tonight during the annual Costume Gala, and Constantine was killed. Everyone else is okay, but I needed to make sure you and Drake knew. I’ll talk to you soon.”

She listened to his message again, trying to process the information. She had to talk to Maxwell. A quick google check of the time difference told her that it wasn’t too early in the morning to call him, so she dialed him back right away as she picked up her pace, walking toward home. He answered after a couple of rings.

“Riley, did you get my message?”

“Oh my god, Maxwell, this is awful! Is everyone else okay? Are _you_ okay?”

“I’m fine. There were a few other minor injuries, but no other deaths. But Riley, he died pushing Liam out of the way of a collapsing ceiling.”

“This is so terrible. How’s Liam doing?”

“I’m not sure; I haven’t really had a chance to talk to him. He’s had so much to do with all the planning. How’s Drake handling all this?”

“I don’t know. I just got off work, and he didn’t pick up his phone.”

“Doesn’t he usually come pick you up from work?”

Riley paused before answering him, “We had a pretty massive fight last night.”

“Oh Riley, I’m so sorry! What was it about?”

“Liam, his move here, everything basically. But you have much bigger things to worry about than my love life.”

“Never, I’ve become one of the Riley Liu love life experts over the past few months. But seriously, let me know if you need someone to talk to, okay?”

“Thanks, Maxwell. Do you know when the funeral will be?”

“Well, the body will lie in state for a week, so the service will probably be next Saturday.”

“Okay, I’m sure we’ll be there.”

“Just keep me posted.”

“Will do. Look, I gotta go. I’m home now, and I have to see if Drake is here or if I have to go looking for him.”

“Take care, Riley.”

“You too.”

Riley climbed the three flights of stairs, nervous about what she was about to find. She hoped Drake was at home, not out at a bar somewhere. Undoubtedly, he’d heard about Constantine, otherwise he probably wouldn’t have called her. If he went out to drink away his guilt, though, she wasn’t sure how she was going to find him.

Unlocking her door, she was relieved when she hear the shower running, though the empty bottle of whiskey sitting next to the bed was less reassuring. “ _He’s here_ _at least_ ,” she thought as she let out a large sigh. Patting Anderson on his head, she walked over to the bathroom door, tapping lightly.

“Drake?”

There was no response. She tried knocking louder, but still nothing. It made her anxious.

“Drake, I’m coming in, okay?”

Hearing no protest or objections, she opened the door, which he had thankfully left unlocked. As she stepped into the tiny bathroom, she saw him, standing under the water. He must have finally heard her, as he dragged his head up, eyes locking on hers.

To say he looked like shit was an understatement. He appeared frail, like he might fall to the shower floor at any moment. His eyes were red-rimmed, and combined with his stubble from the day, he just looked haggard. Riley quickly stripped down and swung the glass door open, moving to join him in the small shower. Cold water pelted her back as he crumpled down into her arms. Clearly, he’d been here a while.

“Riley, I…” he trailed off, unable to say anything more. Riley just ran her hands along his spine, trying to convey some sense of comfort.

“I’m so sorry, Drake.”

“I meant to come to the bar, but I just…”

“Come on, let’s get you dried off, yeah?” She helped him out of the shower, wrapping him in his towel as gently as possible. “So, Maxwell said the funeral will be on Saturday. When do you want to fly out?”

Her words finally seemed to reach him as his eyes snapped to hers. “Fly out?”

“Drake, you have to be there. If not for yourself, for Liam.”

“Yeah, well…”

“You know this is important.”

“Yeah, real important that I be there to hear what a wonderful man he was. Gonna get real choked up hearing everyone laud the great hero who arranged for my girlfriend to get assaulted,” he said as he walked out of the bathroom over to his suitcase, searching for something to wear to bed.

“He’s Liam’s dad; no matter what he did, you need to go for his sake. You think I’m looking forward to hearing toast after toast in his honor after what he did to me? We aren’t going for Constantine, we’re going for Liam.”

“We?” he spun around to face her at that, confusion etched across his face.

“Of course. We’re in this together. Did you think I’d make you go alone?” She stepped closer to him.

Drake stared at her, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape for a few moments, before he closed the distance between them, wrapping himself around her tightly and burying his face into her neck. She couldn’t tell if the wetness she felt was from his shower or if he was crying. Realistically, it was probably a combination of the two.

“After all the shit I said last night, I wouldn’t blame you if you did a lot worse. Riley, I’ve never been more sorry about-”

“Shhh, I know. We can work through all that later, okay? Tonight, let’s just get some sleep.”

She felt Drake nodding against her, but he seemed reluctant to let her go, so she awkwardly navigated them toward the bed. Eventually, Drake got the hint, stepping out of the embrace and climbing into his side of their bed. Riley quickly went to brush her teeth, take out her contacts, and attempt to run a comb through the wet mess that was her hair. Oh well, she could deal with that in the morning.

Unsurprisingly, Drake was still awake when she came out of the bathroom, staring at the ceiling. She moved to walk around the bed to her side when she felt him grab her wrist.

“You know I love you, right?” His words were somehow heartbreaking and reassuring at the same time.

“Yes. I love you, too.”


	10. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riley and Drake make their way back to Cordonia for Constantine’s funeral, but where do they stand, both with each other and with Liam?

Riley scrolled through numerous discount travel websites, Anderson curled up tightly on her lap. She really wanted to take care of this today but she sighed when she saw the price of the cheapest tickets. Three layovers, nearly 24 hours of travel, and it still was going to cost a couple thousand dollars. Good thing she’d gone to the bank to add her cash tips from the weekend to her account.

Before she clicked to reserve the tickets, she heard her phone vibrate. Riley frowned when she saw the number on her screen. It was a Cordonian country code, but it wasn’t the number of any of her contacts. Normally, she screened calls, but with everything going on, she figured she better answer.

“Hello?”

“Yeah, is this Riley Liu?”

“Yes, who’s this?”

“Olivia. Look, I-”

“Olivia Nevrakis?”

“ _Yes_. I wanted to-”

“You’re calling me?”

“Obviously. So, I thought-”

“Why?”

“If you would shut up for more than three seconds, I could tell you. I’m sure you heard about the attack?”

Riley didn’t respond right away, still trying to wrap her head around the fact that Olivia was calling her willingly, but her silence seemed to anger the other woman.

“You don’t have to take my ‘shut up’ so literally. You know that Constantine died, right?”

“Yeah, we heard.”

“So, when do you two want to fly out?”

“Excuse me?”

“My staff is trying to set up travel arrangements for you, and they reminded me that you probably have work schedules to coordinate, so when are you planning to fly out?”

“Why do you need to know?”

“So I can book your flight and find you two a hotel.”

“Why are you-”

“Riley, I haven’t got all day, so let’s cut to the point. You can’t afford the airfare and hotel, right? Well, I’m solving that problem; I’ll cover it.”

“Olivia, we can’t-”

“I was hoping to avoid this pointless back and forth.”

“We don’t need your help. I’ll put the plane tickets on my credit card, and then we can stay with someone.”

“Who? Savannah’s apartment is a one bedroom. Are you going to put Drake and Bertrand under the same roof at Ramsford? That two hour car ride to the capital with awkward Savannah talk between Bertrand, Drake, and Maxwell sounds oh so fun. Or maybe you guys will just stay at the palace and throw your relationship in Liam’s face while he’s grieving?” Olivia paused to take a breath, “Sorry, just calling it like I see it.”

“Olivia-”

“Look, you know I’m right. I’ll get you guys a room at a hotel in the capital.”

“Drake won’t be okay with you paying.”

“What Drake Walker doesn’t know won’t kill him. Are you telling me you really can afford this trip?”

Olivia was right. The cost of the airfare alone was going to max out one of her cards. And it’s not like Maxwell or Hana could exactly treat at this point. Was this really the best option? Accepting charity from Olivia Nevrakis?

“Fine. But you need to keep things cheap. Coach tickets and a budget hotel.”

“I knew you’d come around to seeing things my way. Now, what’s your email so I can send you the confirmation?”

“Not so fast; why are _you_ doing this for us? Obviously, you and Drake don’t get along, and by the time we left, it seemed like you had just come around to barely tolerating me.”

The scorn in her reply was biting, even through the telephone. “I’m _not_ doing it for you two. I’m doing this for _him_. He needs Drake here, but he’s too stubborn to admit it.”

Riley paused. She was afraid to ask her next question, but her curiosity and guilt got the best of her, “How _is_ Liam doing?”

There was a long sigh on the other end of the line, then “He’s thrown himself into funeral preparations and press appearances. He’s focusing on keeping the public morale from entirely bottoming out as well as investigating these attacks. He says he’s fine, but Leo told me he doesn’t think he’s sleeping or eating.”

“At least his brother’s there to help him with the arrangements.”

Olivia laughed at that statement, “That’s right, you don’t really know Leo. Yeah, he’s not helping Liam with anything practical, though they did get drunk together last night, so I guess that’s something. Royal duties aren’t exactly Leo’s priority. Look, I have other things I need to accomplish today, so forgive me for cutting our gossip session short. When do you want to fly out?”

“Thursday would be great.”

“Excellent. This is where you say ‘Thank you, Olivia.’”

Riley rolled her eyes, “Thank you, Olivia.”

“You’re welcome. Goodbye.”

With that, Olivia hung up. Riley let out a huge sigh, attracting Anderson’s attention as he lifted his head up from it’s perch on the edge of her desk to look at her.

“Which do you think will upset Drake more, boy - me lying to him, or me telling him I just let Olivia Nevrakis buy us something?”

Anderson’s bark in response did not clarify the matter for her, but Riley knew that she needed to tread carefully. They hadn’t really even discussed their big fight from a few nights ago, and no matter what she decided here, she was about to add more fuel to the barely-controlled fire.

* * *

Drake shifted in his seat, trying to find a comfortable position. He hadn’t flown anything less than first class in years, another reminder that his perception of how the average person lived was severely warped. Thankfully, he’d been so exhausted he slept most of the flight, but since the overhead announcement that they were making their final descent, he’d been awake and very aware of how his knees banged into the seat ahead of him every time he shifted in his seat.

Even though he’d gotten lord knows how many hours of sleep between their three flights and two layovers, he still felt tired. He probably hadn’t slept for more than 30 minutes in a row since his fight with Riley last week. His mind would not quiet, full of thoughts of her and Liam and the ways he’d let both of them down, making it harder to fall asleep than usual. When he did fall asleep, he was even more restless than his baseline, waking up at the slightest noise.

His crashing was inevitable, and he supposed he should be grateful he’d made it through the week before sheer fatigue completely overwhelmed him. He’d been barely functional at George’s diner for the past few days. Honestly, George seemed relieved at the end of his shift of Monday when Drake told him he had to leave the country later that week for a funeral. He knew it wasn’t great to up and leave a job he hadn’t even had for two weeks, but George had been very understanding, keeping him on for the next couple of days so that he could earn a little more money. When he left the diner on Wednesday, George had shook his hand, telling him he understood “needing to get your house in order,” but it was clear that neither of them really wanted Drake to try and come work there again when he got back. Drake was not cut out for that line of work. Still, his looming unemployment was not a pleasant prospect.

He knew part of his insomnia was also due to the fact that he was terrified that he was going to miss a call from Liam. They hadn’t actually spoken since his father passed away. Drake left several voicemails those first few days, but Liam only responded via text. It was concerning, to say the least. Drake was sure he was holding it all in, bearing the entire burden himself. As much as Drake wanted to hear his voice to get a sense of just how bad things were, he couldn’t force it. Liam was obviously screening his calls, so he took to texting as well. Some contact had to be better than none, right? But part of him was worried that Liam would decide he was ready to talk when Drake was asleep, making him hyper-aware of every noise. Any creak of the mattress, any clanking of the dog’s tags, any noises drifting up from the street had ripped Drake out of sleep, sending him fumbling for his phone, making sure he didn’t have any new notifications. Having to put his phone on airplane mode was almost a relief, and he’d passed out before they’d even left the tarmac in New York.

Thank god Riley was here with him. She’d taken care of all the travel arrangements and got his groggy ass from plane to plane without a single grumble or complaint. All after that horrible fight.

Things had been weird between them since that night. He’d tried to apologize numerous times, but Riley always shut it down, telling him not to worry about it. But he _was_ worried about it. She seemed content to slap a bandage on everything while they dealt with Constantine’s funeral, but the things he’d said felt too big to gloss over until they got back. But here they were, in some sort of purgatory, where they’d somehow moved past their fight without addressing anything about the fight. Silence had become their new normal.

They landed a little after 10:00 local time, but Drake still felt out of sorts and tired. As they made their way through customs, he noticed Riley yawning too. Clearly, both of them had shot their internal clocks completely to hell, and now they had to contend with jet lag as well. They headed over to baggage claim when Riley spoke to him for the first time in what was probably hours.

“What time did you say we were meeting Savannah for dinner?”

“17:00 was best for her and Bartie.”

She nodded, watching as suitcases began to tumble down to the carousel. “What do you want to do for the next six hours?”

“Would you hate me if I said see if we can check into the hotel early and get some sleep?”

She turned to face him fully at that, and after a moment she reached up to caress his cheek with such gentleness, he felt himself getting choked up at the gesture. He did not deserve her.

“No, Drake. That sounds perfect.”

* * *

“Drake, are you almost ready?”

Riley stood in front of the mirror, checking her lipstick for the fourth time. She’d been ready to go for the past 20 minutes, but Drake remained in the bathroom. What was taking him so long was a complete mystery to her. Obviously, he was dragging his feet. He’d been sluggish all morning, staring at his two suits for almost ten minutes before she’d handed him the grey one, telling him it was dark enough and that he needed to get going. It was clear he was dreading everything about today, but at this point, Riley was getting nervous about time. She figured there would be lots of diplomats and VIPs who wanted to pay their respects, and she knew it was important Drake spoke to Liam before the service.

Finally, Drake opened the door. He looked exhausted already, but he was dressed and clean shaven. Baby steps.

“Come here, let me fix your tie.”

He walked over to her obediently, lifting his chin so that Riley could straighten the knot. She noticed a couple of small scabs along the edge of his jaw. Without thinking, she reached up to touch them.

“Yeah, I nicked myself shaving,” Drake mumbled, tugging on the cuffs of his dress shirt.

“Okay,” replied Riley, stretching up to kiss the same spot before threading their hands together, “Let’s get a cab, yeah?”

They both were quiet during the short ride to the cathedral. A few blocks out, they were stopped at a security blockade, only allowed to pass through after providing their IDs and being identified as guests. Fishing his wallet out of his pocket was the only time Drake let go of her hand.

The walk from the cab to the cathedral was tense, Drake tugging on his tie and rolling his shoulders while Riley herself attempted to smooth any wrinkles out of her black dress. The line to pay respects was long, as was to be expected, and Riley was sure she heard at least four different languages being spoken around them.

The last funeral Riley had been to was her mother’s. How different this one was from that one. Hundreds of mourners, as opposed to three of Riley’s coworkers and four classmates from college. A massive cathedral instead of a small room at a funeral home. Ornate bouquets on display everywhere, not one vase with white and yellow carnations, her low cost alternative to chrysanthemums. The only thing that remained the same was her dress.

Neither she nor Drake spoke as they waited for their turn to pay their respects to the royal family. Riley wondered if Drake was thinking of his own father’s funeral, but it didn’t feel right to ask while they were surrounded by strangers. Riley kept looking around for Maxwell or Hana, hell even Bertrand or Olivia, but they were nowhere to be seen, although she did catch a glimpse of Savannah seated in a pew about one third of the way back.

To say last night’s dinner with Savannah and Bartie had been awkward was an understatement. Savannah picked the restaurant, and Riley had assumed she would choose something toddler friendly, but instead they went to a formal establishment where Drake had to wear a coat, the portion sizes were tiny, and Bartie drew scandalized looks from other patrons when he flung his sippy cup onto the floor. Savannah had been enthusiastic though, hugging Riley in greeting and asking her questions with genuine interest. It was clear she was making an effort, and Riley had tried to move past the choice of venue in her judgement of officially meeting Drake’s sister, but while they were debating dessert, Savannah had dropped a bombshell, casually mentioning that she was going to be moving to Ramsford next week.

The rest of the evening consisted of tense, stilted conversation between Drake and Savannah that devolved into him questioning the wisdom of moving in with someone so soon after they started a relationship, prompting Savannah to call him a hypocrite given his own living arrangement. It was so wildly uncomfortable to sit there and hear herself and her relationship discussed as if she weren’t there, all as part of a private family argument. The fact that both Savannah and Drake had to keep their voices at a quiet level given their location would have made the whole situation funny if it was anyone other than her boyfriend and his sister having this fight. The check finally arrived after far too many minutes, and Riley paid the entire total just to bring the evening to an end. Not exactly the way she’d hoped to officially meet Drake’s family.

Back at the hotel, Drake had alternated between ranting about how foolish Savannah was being and apologizing for subjecting her to the entire evening. In an odd way, his frustrations with his sister had lessened the awkwardness that had hung over their relationship for the past few days, providing a strange silver lining to Drake pacing the room and dragging his hands through his hair. Riley had only gotten him to calm down after she suggested they go out and get some real food. Half and hour later, they’d returned to the hotel with some sandwiches and a bottle of whiskey. They’d gotten through about half the whiskey before falling asleep. Riley knew it wasn’t the healthiest coping mechanism, but it had successfully taken Drake’s mind off the drama with his sister. Now, she just hoped he didn’t catch sight of her, because he was stressed enough without having to bring back those memories.

The line of mourners moved slowly, but eventually they made their way to the front, and Drake was finally forced to drop her hand as he stepped up to shake hands with Regina. She nodded politely at both of them and expressed her thanks for their condolences. Next was Leo, who pulled Drake into a loose hug, whispering something in his ear that Riley couldn’t catch. Drake’s eyes narrowed at whatever he said, but before he could respond, Leo turned to Riley.

“Riley, right? Thank you so much for coming,” he said, placing his hand gently on her shoulder.

“I’m sorry for your loss, Leo.”

“Thanks,” he replied before pivoting back to Drake, “So, I’m running a pool as to the ratio of the number of times Liam’s name is mentioned compared to mine in the eulogies. The line is three to one; do you want the under or over?”

Riley could barely process his statement before she heard Regina hissing “Leo,” the former queen glaring at her stepson.

“Aww, Regina, just a little gallows humor. It’s my coping mechanism.”

Regina shook her head before turning to greet the next mourner. Riley looked at Drake, wondering if he found Leo’s remark as callous as she did, but Drake didn’t appear surprised by the statement, instead just raising an eyebrow and giving a little snort before moving down the line to Liam.

The relief on Liam’s face was clear as day as they stopped in front of him. “Thank you for coming, Drake.”

“I’m so sorry.”

Drake pulled Liam in for a tight hug, probably too personal for the setting, but it was clear neither man cared as both of them visibly relaxed, shoulders loosening and loud sighs escaping. After a few moments, Liam pulled back.

“You doing okay?” asked Drake.

“As well as could be expected.”

“Liam…”

“Not here. We’ll chat more later,” replied Liam, a small smile plastered on his face, “Riley, thank you for coming as well.”

Riley stepped up to him, giving him a warm hug. She hadn’t known she was going to say it until she was face to face with him, but it was the only thing she could think of, “I’m so sorry he wasn’t here for you.”

Liam’s eyes widened slightly, but he gently shook his head. “You’re both here now. I’ll find you two later, alright?”

The only person left to greet was Madeleine, who coolly nodded at them without so much as a handshake. They moved to make their way toward a pew further back, but were intercepted in the aisle by Bastien, who after exchanging a handshake with Drake, directed them to the third pew. They grabbed the two seats closest to the edge, uncomfortable enough being asked to sit so close, where they would undoubtedly be noticed by the press. Riley didn’t know anyone else in this row, other than Olivia, who was all the way at the other end. She sat ramrod still, and if she’d seen where Riley and Drake had been asked to sit, she showed no recognition.

The funeral was a long and formal affair, with eulogies from politicians, diplomats, and of course, Liam. They all spoke of a man that Riley had never met, who was much kinder and more compassionate than the one who had thrown her into the path of Tariq and a media scandal without an ounce of remorse, but of course, no one was going to speak ill of a former king. Stories from earlier times were also heavily sanitized if Drake’s reaction was anything to go off of, as she caught him rolling his eyes at least twice.

Still, it was emotional, not for them, but clearly for Liam, even if he hadn’t allowed any tears to fall. His normal ease at a microphone was gone, and while his eulogy was beautifully crafted, it came across as somewhat stiff and formal. Liam was obviously nervous to let any emotion show, even at his father’s funeral. Madeleine placed her hand on his shoulder after he gave his eulogy, and Riley tried to determine if it was a spontaneous gesture of support, or if it was calculated for the numerous news cameras focused on that front pew. Drake’s sharp intake of breath at her movement would suggest self-interest as her motive, but then again, Drake was far from a fair critic of the nobility.

Finally, the casket was carried out by the King’s Guard, with Leo escorting Regina and Madeleine on Liam’s arm close behind. She and Drake moved to step out into the side aisle to make their exit, but out of the corner of her eye, Riley noticed Olivia trying to flag them down.

“Where do you two think you’re going?”

“Back to the hotel,” said Drake, tugging his tie slightly loose, avoiding eye contact with Olivia as he did so, clearly done with the whole event.

“We still have the burial.”

“That’s for family only.”

Olivia rolled her eyes at Drake’s response. “God, you can be so dense. Liam clearly had you sat here for a reason.”

It was almost comical the way Drake’s eyes bugged out at the insinuation that Liam considered him to be family. He didn’t say anything in response, so Riley decided to chime in, “We might need a ride to the cemetery, in that case.”

Olivia sighed and shook her head. “Of course you do. Come on, let’s go.”

* * *

“ _What a weird day_ ,” was all Riley could think as she sat next to Drake in one of the palace’s smaller dining rooms, eating a slice of Red Ruby cake. After the burial, Liam had briefly come over to her, Drake, and Olivia, inviting them to a private remembrance dinner back at the palace. Riley had hoped Maxwell or Hana might be there, but no such luck. Instead, she was dining with two dozen people, most of whom were clearly relatives of Regina or Constantine that she’d never met. Other than Olivia, Madeleine, and Adelaide, not a soul looked familiar.

The wine and liquor had flowed pretty freely, and people were now giving toasts in honor of the late king. Riley prayed to any deity that might exist that no one would suggest the bright idea to go around the room and have everyone tell a story about Constantine, because she knew whatever came out of her mouth would probably not be in the spirit of fond remembrance. For that matter, she was guessing Drake’s tale would cause some discomfort as well.

Drake clearly hadn’t counted on a whole day of formal mourning activities. He had been antsy throughout the burial and she was sure if anyone other than Liam had extended the dinner invite, that he would have declined without caring about who that might have offended. Now, as they sat eating their dessert and raising their glasses “to Constantine,” he kept fidgeting his leg incessantly. They’d been here for hours, and he still hadn’t gotten a chance to exchange more than a few sentences with Liam.

After a few more toasts, Riley noticed Leo lean over to Regina and whisper something in her ear. Whatever he said, she must have agreed with, because she nodded and placed her hand over his before standing. The room fell silent, waiting for her to speak.

“I want to thank you all for being with our family today and for all your support. As we continue to celebrate my husband’s life, my stepson pointed out that those of you here who are younger might wish to pay tribute in your own way, so for those who are so inclined, there will be drinks and cigars in the lounge.”

Riley glanced at Drake, who gave her a little shrug as he shoved his chair out from the table. It wasn’t until they entered the lounge that she realized who they were going to be socializing with: Liam, Leo, Madeleine, and Olivia. She wondered if Leo had any sense that he couldn’t have created a much more awkward group if he tried. She and Drake took a seat on one of the couches by the fireplace, while Liam chose the closest armchair. Madeleine stood tersely off to the side, arms crossed tight against her chest. The only two people who looked comfortable were Leo, who headed straight for the bar, and Olivia, who claimed an armchair with the air of someone who owned the place. She seemed to revel in everyone else’s discomfort.

“I just thought it might be nice to escape from all those formal toasts to the bastard,” said Leo, pouring six shots of vodka and passing them around, “So here’s to you, Dad. I’m sure this toast is just one more disappointment.” He threw back his shot without a second glance, then walked over to a humidor, where he began selecting a cigar.

Well, maybe things _could_ get more awkward. Riley glanced around the room. Everyone was silent, and Liam sighed heavily before downing his shot, “Leo, I know it’s been a lot of dad talk today, but let’s not do this now. Why don’t we talk about something else altogether; Riley, how is Anderson liking living in New York?”

Before Riley could answer, Olivia interjected, “Come _on_ , we are not gonna sit here and make small talk about her pet and pretend like this is all normal and that we all like each other.”

“Well what do you propose we do, then?” cut in Madeleine, “Do _you_ really want to start airing all our dirty laundry? Because I know things about you that I’m _sure_ you don’t want coming out tonight.”

Olivia opened her mouth to respond, but suddenly the door burst open.

“Is there room for one more? I know I’m not as young as you all, but young at heart has to count for something!” said Adelaide.

“Of course,” muttered Drake under his breath.

“Mother!” groaned Madeleine, rubbing her temples in frustration.

Liam stood, seeming to take advantage of Adelaide’s entrance. “I’m going to take care of some work in my office,” he said with a sigh, “Drake, Riley, can you both join me for a moment?”

Once the door was closed behind them, Liam shook his head and sighed again, “Sorry we haven’t had much of a chance to talk. Come on, let’s get away from here before Olivia and Madeleine start in on each other.”

They started in what Riley assumed was the direction of his office, but she’d never been in this part of the palace. An awkward silence started to settle over the three of them, but Liam seemed determined not to let that happen.

“When did you two arrive? Was your flight pleasant?”

“It was fine,” said Drake with a shrug, “ended up sleeping through most it.”

Liam turned his head sharply, staring at Drake for a few moments after his response, but must have decided not to pursue that topic of conversation. “And I presume you’re staying with Savannah?”

Drake just shook his head at that.

“Oh no, you’re not out at Ramsford, are you? I’m so sorry for keeping you so late, let-”

“No, Liam. We’re not at Ramsford,” said Drake, but he didn’t provide any further explanation.

“Then where-”

“We’re at a hotel, Liam,” Riley finally chimed in. She knew Drake was reluctant to give him this information, but she figured she might as well cut to the chase here.

Liam stopped in his tracks at her response, “Why didn’t you let me or Bastien know you needed a place to stay?”

Drake dropped his eyes to his feet. “You know why.”

Liam let out a shaky breath, glancing between Drake and Riley several times before he spoke again, “You two don’t need to hide from me.”

Drake still wouldn’t meet Liam’s gaze, staring at the ground as if it were completely fascinating, but Liam wasn’t having any of it. He took a step toward Drake and put his hands on his shoulders, waiting until Drake eventually, finally, made eye contact.

“We both have to stop tiptoeing around this. If Riley is in your life, _we_ need to make this normal.”

“I know, I know. But with everything you have going on right now, the last thing you need to deal with is us.”

“Quite frankly, if the press see you two at a hotel, I’m going to have to deal with it anyway, and much more publicly. Come on, I’ll send someone to go pack up your things. You’ll stay here for the rest of your visit.”

“Come on, Liam. We can’t do that.”

“You can. I insist on it.”

The two men stared at each other for several seconds, before Drake eventually nodded his head. “Yeah, okay.”

Liam smiled politely. “Glad that’s settled. Let me go find someone who can collect your luggage. If you’ll excuse me for just a moment, I’ll be right back.”

And with that, he was off. As soon as he rounded a corner, Drake sighed and shook his head.

“Are you sure we should be here, Drake?”

“No, but Liam’s not going to accept anything else. He always gets his way.”

Riley grabbed Drake’s hand, hoping soothe some of his agitation and frustration. She didn’t say anything, but she couldn’t help thinking his assessment was unfair. Her being there with him was proof that Liam didn’t _always_ get his way.


	11. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drake and Riley enjoy some time with close friends as Liam attempts to process the reality of his friends’ relationship.

Liam sighed as he sipped his coffee, flipping through his news briefing on his tablet. The press coverage of the funeral was good, which was something. And the op ed that had dropped the day before the funeral, calling for his abdication to in order to decrease the likelihood of another attack, thankfully had not gained any traction.

He glanced at the time as he finished off his toast. It was after 9:00, and if he was going to make it to Lythikos for an appearance at the ball that night, he should aim to leave the palace within the hour. He’d been hoping to talk to Drake before he left. More days than not, they’d had breakfast together in the private dining room, and Liam had just assumed that he would be there waiting for him like usual this morning. Drake was a notoriously early riser, after all. But the more Liam thought about it, he realized that Drake might have not felt comfortable coming to the royal family’s private dining room with Riley. He should have extended an official invitation to both of them last night before they parted for the evening.

The conversation between the three of them in his office while they waited for their luggage to return had been somewhat stilted. “ _Downright uncomfortably awkward_ ,” hissed a voice in the back of his head, the one that kept trying to force him to confront some emotions he just didn’t have the time to deal with at the moment. Riley had inquired about his plans for the upcoming week, and the nudge of her heel against Drake’s shin had not gone unnoticed. She was clearly trying to arrange some private conversation between Drake and himself, but he cut Drake off before he could say anything. Maybe after his trip to Lythikos, maybe then he could take some time, but for now, he just couldn’t deal with the personal. In light of his father’s death, he needed to be more present in the public eye than ever, otherwise the calls for abdication were likely to increase.

Of course, the most uncomfortable moment of the night was when Stefan had arrived after collecting their luggage. As he offered to take what he believed to be Riley’s belongings and set up her old room for her, the way her head whipped back to Drake made her shock clear. She had no idea that since they were not married, they were not supposed stay together under the palace roof. Drake’s eyes darted between Riley, Stefan, and Liam himself, clearly trying to figure out the best way to navigate this situation. Liam knew in that moment he could have resolved things instantly by telling Stefan just to put everything in Drake’s old quarters. Neither Drake nor Riley were members of the nobility and thus should not be obligated to live by the outdated royal standards, particularly since they were living together in New York. But he hadn’t been able to bring himself to say those words, to say out loud that he was aware that Drake and Riley were clearly sleeping together and that he was fine with it.

Thankfully, Stefan took initiative after several long moments of uncomfortable silence, suggesting that he might have made some errors in his packing, so he would just take all the luggage to Mr. Walker’s quarters and that he and Ms. Liu could sort out which belongings went to which room before they retired for the night. Everyone readily agreed to this plan, with Stefan excusing himself and telling Drake and Riley to let him know when they had gone through the luggage, as he would be happy to move Riley’s belongings to her room. Liam had been sure that Stefan was not going to be summoned again that night, a fact which was confirmed to him by a very scandalized housekeeper this morning.

Lost in his recollections of the preceding evening, Liam was startled when the door opened. Apparently Drake was joining him for breakfast after all, though he’d never arrived this late before. Interestingly, he was alone. Liam must have looked surprised, because Drake said, “Liu’s still asleep,” without prompting as he walked over to pour himself a coffee.

“Should I send someone up there to find out what she wants Edith to make her for breakfast?”

Drake swiveled his head around to look at Liam. He seemed to be searching for something in Liam’s expression, but after a few seconds said, “Nah, she’ll be fine with her usual.”

“Her usual?”

“Yeah, she had an omelette with ham and pepper-jack during the social season and during your engagement tour about three quarters of the time,” Drake replied, pouring two coffees, one black and one with a splash of cream.

“I had no idea.” The reality of Drake and Riley hit Liam harder that moment than it ever had before. For some reason, _this_ felt more intimate than seeing them holding hands at the burial or the kisses he witnessed back at the going away dinner. He wasn’t sure whether it was the fact that Drake had known Riley’s favorite breakfast as far back as the social season or that Drake just assumed that he would have realized this fact. Or maybe it was the way Drake prepared her coffee. No guesswork or hesitation, it felt routine, like it was something he did all the time. It probably _was_ something he did all the time. Why did something so simple feel more concrete than the knowledge that Drake and Riley had stayed together last night?

“Is that what you usually make her for breakfast?” The question slipped out before Liam could stop himself. Drake froze, spoon suspended above Riley’s coffee. “Come on, Riley once told me she and I could have a battle to see who was the worse cook, and you always liked preparing your own meals. I know you must be the chef in your home.”

“Why do you want to know?”

This gave Liam pause. He had a lot of reasons. Part of it was curiosity of how his best friend and the woman he had loved, _did_ still love to a certain extent, lived everyday. Part of it was wondering who Riley really was, because the Riley he thought he knew was clearly different than actual Riley whose life was somehow compatible with Drake’s. Part of it was jealousy of Drake, for having the woman he desired and for having the freedom to pursue her in the way _she_ clearly desired. But before Liam could formulate a response, the door opened and Riley herself joined them. She obviously hadn’t showered or gotten ready as she was wearing flannel pants with cartoon penguins on them, her hair was thrown up in a messy ponytail, and she was wearing her glasses. The sight of her in such casual attire was just startling enough that it took Liam a few seconds to recognize the faded blue sweatshirt she was wearing as Drake’s.

“Sorry,” she said as she looked between the two men, “I would have put on some actual clothes, but I woke up starving. The time zone change is really messing with me.”

“It’s fine, Liu,” said Drake with a wave of his hand, but after a second, he seemed to regret his statement, turning to Liam before asking, “Right?”

“Of course. Feel free to sit anywhere, Riley. Drake was just about to let the kitchen know what you’d like for breakfast.”

“Oh, was he?” said Riley, turning to face Drake fully, grabbing the coffee he offered her from his hands and taking a sip before she continued, “That’s funny, because I don’t remember him asking me what I wanted.”

Drake shook his head. “Last time I asked you about your breakfast order, you told me all you wanted was for me to stop bugging you, so I think I was just abiding by your wishes here.”

Liam felt his response was a little harsh, before Riley responded in kind, “Oh, and you think you know me so well? What were you going to order me?”

“Oh no, you’re here now, so you can tell Edith what you want yourself. I’m not gonna pick something out so you can contradict me to prove a point.”

Edith, who must have been patiently waiting on the other side of the door to the kitchen, entered the dining room at the mention of her name. “What can I get for you, Miss Liu?”

“I’ll have an omelette with ham and pepper-jack cheese,” she said, but upon seeing the gleeful look on Drake’s face, she quickly added, “ _and_ mushrooms. Thank you.”

“Wait, you don’t like the mushrooms here.”

“Yes, I do.”

“No, you don’t. You picked them out and started flicking them into Maxwell’s mouth.”

“Oh yeah. So, where did I like-”

“Applewood, remember? They didn’t have pepper-jack there-”

“So I got it with cheddar and mushrooms. He’s right, I don’t want mushrooms.”

Edith smiled and nodded before returning to the kitchen. Meanwhile, Liam stood there, trying to process everything that he just witnessed. If watching Drake prepare her coffee seemed intimate, he now nearly felt voyeuristic. It was somehow overwhelming, watching the two of them play off each other with such ease, such implied history. What at first he thought was the start of a fight had been a back and forth in which they were equal, and clearly willing, participants. It brought back memories of all the times Riley had teased him, months and months ago, that same little smile when she posed her first question. But where Liam had been anxious, worried he might offend, Drake had no such qualms. He returned the snark in equal measure, and judging by the affectionate looks they had thrown each other through the whole exchange, they both thrived off it. Liam had wanted to woo her gently, to make it clear how special he found her, to treat her like a queen, both literally and figuratively. He’d assumed she’d found attentions charming and flattering. Watching her now, that reality was called into question.

In the weeks since he found out about Drake and Riley, Liam had assumed that his engagement to Madeleine had been the catalyst that pushed them together. It had seemed very plausible that they had bonded while Riley was hurt by his own actions, and that Drake had been there as a friend and support for her. But watching them now, that only felt like half the story. This degree of intimacy didn’t feel like it was built on comfort alone. It required humor, friendship, trust. When that was built, how their connection grew, well that was still hazy in Liam’s mind. Was their relationship something he should have seen coming, should have expected?

But this was a dangerous place for his mind to go, particularly when he needed to focus on preparing some remarks for Lythikos. He needed to get out of here and start his work. _That_ should be his priority.

“Well, I need to leave for Lythikos. Enjoy your breakfast.” Before they could respond, Liam pushed the door open, walking briskly to his office. He needed to get his emotions under control. A king didn’t have time to deal with personal drama.

* * *

Maxwell came bursting out the door as Drake pulled into the drive in front of the Ramsford estate, waving enthusiastically, and Riley couldn’t help smiling widely as she waved back. The drive to the Beaumont’s had felt much longer than two hours, with Bartie throwing a fit in his car seat after they’d been on the road for only 20 minutes, not calming no matter what Savannah tried. It was only in the last 15 minutes that’d he’d finally fallen asleep. Savannah had asked Drake if he could just keep driving around in hopes of lulling Bartie into a deeper sleep, but the look he shot her through the rear view mirror stopped her in her tracks.

In a way, Bartie’s tantrum had given the three adults in the car something to focus on other than their memories of their awkward dinner. Riley was surprised that Drake had agreed to drive his sister and some of her belongings out to Ramsford, given his thoughts on her upcoming move, but he’d shrugged and said, “She’s made her choice. She’s family, and we’re headed there anyway.” It was hardly a ringing endorsement, but after leaving the palace, they swung by her apartment to load her, Bartie, and several boxes of clothing and children’s toys into Drake’s car.

When Riley climbed out of the car, Maxwell jogged up to her, pulling her into a tight hug.

“Hey, little blossom.”

“Good to see you, Maxwell.”

He quickly greeted Drake and Savannah before grabbing Riley by her hand and dragging her toward the front door.

“Hey, we’ve got boxes here! Aren’t you going to help?” called out Drake, already unloading Savannah’s items from his tailgate as Savannah attempted to remove the car seat from its base without waking Bartie.

“Bertrand’s on his way out to help, but Hana and I need our Riley time.”

And so Riley followed Maxwell through the entry into one of the sitting rooms where Hana was waiting for her. When Hana caught sight of her, she sprung off the couch, striding over to Riley and wrapping her arms around her as she said, “I’ve missed you so much.”

“I missed you too, Hana.”

“We waited for you and Drake after the funeral, but we didn’t see you come out of the cathedral.”

“We went to the burial and dinner at the palace.”

“Of course,” said Maxwell, flopping down on the couch, “Come on, Miss Lee here has a lot of things to fill you in on.”

For the next few hours, the three of them shared what had been happening for each of them over the past few weeks. It was so much nicer to sit and talk face to face than to exchange hurried texts or try to find a time for brief phone calls that worked with the different time zones. Between Riley’s tales of crazy customers at the bar and Hana’s reenactment of her rejection of Madeleine, with Maxwell playing Madeleine in what had to be a very over the top manner, Riley found herself laughing harder than she had in weeks. She really had missed this.

Eventually, Drake came in and joined them in the sitting room, a frown etched across his face.

“How’s the moving going?” asked Maxwell.

“Well enough. Thanks for your help, by the way.”

“Hey, I told Bertrand I thought this might not be the greatest idea, but he insisted he knew what he was doing and that they were handling it, so I’ve excused myself from any relocation duties.”

“I think this is a terrible idea too, but somehow I spent the last hour constructing a crib while those two argued about what is an acceptable nap schedule for a 14 month old. How did I end up being the only one roped into their drama?”

“You’re the older sibling, so you feel compelled to be responsible. I have no such delusions about my abilities,” Maxwell said with a laugh before he caught the gruff look on Drake’s face. Once he saw it, he quickly added, “Hey, you’re not the one who’s going to be living with them. Believe me, I’m sure I’ll end up roped into their drama soon enough.”

Drake shrugged, seeming to accept that answer for now, slouching deeper into the armchair before he asked, “So what are you guys talking about?”

“Hana was just starting to tell us what’s happening with her family.”

“Yes, I was just telling Riley that I’m pretty sure my father finally told my mother about the details of our last conversation in Shanghai. I got a voicemail from her basically ordering me to come home or risk being disowned.”

Riley threw her arm around Hana’s shoulder at that. As great as it was to see Hana gain confidence, Riley knew that the fracturing of her relationship with her parents was a very high price for her to pay.

“Hana’s understating it, if you can believe it,” said Maxwell, “I heard the voicemail, and it was horrible.”

“So at this point, it’s only a matter of time until they cut off my finances completely.”

“What are you going to do?” asked Drake.

“She’ll stay here, of course,” Maxwell responded, staring at Drake like he was insane.

“I’m guessing she doesn’t want to sit around the estate all day, getting drafted into providing free childcare.”

“No, not that I mind looking after Bartie here and there, but you are right that I want to do something, to make something of my life. I’ve been giving it a lot of thought, and I think I want to start my own outreach or charitable organization, one that focuses on disaster relief and rebuilding locally owned business after areas are devastated.”

“Wow, you don’t do anything halfheartedly, do you?” said Riley, nudging Hana playfully with her shoulder.

“Oh man, you should see her in action,” said Maxwell, “She’s turned the second dining room into her own little business center, and she’s been talking with different contacts she has all over the globe in a bunch of different industries.”

“I’ve met quite a few people through my father’s business. I figured I might as well see if any of them had any insight or advice for me. They’ve been very helpful with some tips on how to set up revenue streams, and a few of them have put me in touch with some potential investors.”

“Hana, that great!” said Riley.

“That’s not even the best part. Guess where a couple of those investors are headquartered?”

“Really?”

“Yup, I’ll likely be making a trip or two to New York City over the next few months!”

“Oh my god, it’ll be so good to see you again so soon!”

As Riley hugged Hana in excitement, she couldn’t help but notice that Drake had been very quiet since Hana had started sharing her news. Looking over Hana’s shoulder, she saw Drake, rubbing the back of his neck tersely and staring off to the side. As Riley let go of Hana though, Drake turned to face the women.

“It’ll be nice to see you, Hana. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to make sure that Savannah doesn’t need the crib moved yet again.” With that, he was up, stalking out of the room and toward the nearest flight of stairs.

“What was that about?” asked Maxwell.

Riley frowned, “I think it’s just his own job worries. He had to quit his temp position to come here for the funeral.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry. I would have never kept going on and on if I knew that-”

“Hana, don’t worry about it. He’s happy for you; he’s just processing a lot.”

“How are things with you two?” asked Maxwell.

“Good,” replied Riley, not wanting to get into all the complications they’d faced recently.

“Really? Because, no offense, but you guys seem weird.”

“It’s just been stressful getting here for the funeral. Don’t worry, Maxwell. We’re fine.”

Maxwell didn’t seem very convinced by her statement, squinting at her intently, but after a few moments, he must have decided to take her at her word. Riley just had to wonder if she herself believed what she said at all.

* * *

Drake felt a bit lost, and he hadn’t felt that way in the palace for years. He was trying to find Riley, who had told him she was going to go get cleaned up when they finally got back to the palace. Bartie had puked all over her as she was helping Savannah get the car seat out of his car, and when Leo had run into them in the hallway and wanted to chat, she’d politely declined and headed up the stairs, eager to wash away the day. He’d assumed he’d find her in the shower in his quarters after he finally convinced Leo that he and Riley were not interested in joining him at the casino, but it was dead silent when he entered, and the bathroom was completely dark. He took to wandering the halls around his quarters, hoping to catch sight of her somewhere. Maybe she’d gone to use the bathroom that had been closest to her room during the social season? He started heading in that direction when a voice interrupted him.

“Mr. Walker?”

He spun around. It was a maid who he didn’t remember having ever met before. She looked terrified for having spoken to him.

“Yeah?”

“It’s just… well, I thought that… maybe, you’re looking for Miss Liu?”

Drake gave her a small smile to try and calm her. She wasn’t technically supposed to speak to palace residents and guests without being spoken to first, but he obviously didn’t care about all that protocol shit. She was just trying to be helpful. “Yeah, that’s what I’m doing. Do you know where she is?”

The maid let out a sigh of relief before directing him toward one of the nicer bathrooms around a couple of corners from their current location. He thanked her and headed in that direction, knocking softly on the door when he arrived. “Liu, it’s me. Can I come in?”

A muffled “okay” filtered through the door, so he opened the door slightly and slipped inside. What awaited him on the other side was a sight to behold. There was Riley, lounging in the tub. She was all wet skin, and bubbles that only sort of covered her, and her she was just… fuck. She looked like something straight out of his fantasies. He was finding it hard to keep his arousal in check. They hadn’t slept together since before their big fight, and his body was reminding him of that with a vengeance. He shifted on his feet, tugging on his jeans to find a more comfortable position when he realized Riley was staring at him expectantly. She must have said something.

“Sorry… what did you say?” he somehow managed to spit out without choking on his own words. His tongue felt heavy in his own mouth.

Riley blushed faintly as she smirked at him. She obviously knew exactly what was running through his mind. “I said ‘I was going to just wash off in your shower, but one of the maids saw me and thought I could use a little relaxing.’”

“Right.” His brain was barely processing her statement. He certainly wasn’t about to come up with anything more eloquent as a response.

“Cat got your tongue there?”

“Liu…”

“Well, come on then. This tub is certainly big enough for two.”

Before he could even fully process her words, he felt himself spring into action, tugging off his shirt and tripping just a bit as he tried to remove his jeans before he took off his shoes. Eventually, he succeeded in stripping down, and he moved to step into the tub, Riley sliding to the far end to allow him room. He’d barely submerged himself in the warm water when Riley pushed over to him, straddling him and bringing their lips together in a warm kiss.

It was like a damn broke. All the emotions of the past two weeks, his guilt and shame and anger and frustration and sorrow and regret, flowed through him. It was too much. He choked back a sob, trying to get a grip. His very naked girlfriend climbing onto his lap should not be causing this type of response, but Riley clearly could tell his mood had changed. She pulled back slightly, staring into his eyes like she was trying to read his soul. He couldn’t take the intensity. He was barely holding it together as it was, so he looked away.

Of course, she was having none of that. She always did find a way to cut through his defenses. She grabbed his chin and forced him to make eye contact. “Drake, what’s wrong?”

“Everything,” was all he could choke out before a few stray tears started trailing down his cheeks. She reached out to cup his cheek, but Drake needed her closer. He wrapped his arm around her a pulled her in, holding her tightly enough he was surprised she didn’t say anything. She just wrapped her arms around his shoulders, stroking his neck with a soothing touch.

He wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that, wrapped up in each other, but eventually he noticed Riley was trembling in his arms. It was then that he realized that the water had turned downright icy. Pulling back from her slightly, he ran his hands rapidly over her shoulders, trying to provide some warmth, but he was fighting a losing battle against the cold water. After a few moments, Riley moved to stand, kissing the top of his head before climbing out of the tub and wrapping herself in a large white towel, collecting her clothing off the floor. Drake moved to do the same, but noticed that she stopped getting dressed out of the corner of his eye.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“My shirt is disgusting, and I didn’t think to grab another one.”

“Here,” he said, thrusting his shirt towards her. He would be fine in just his undershirt.

It felt a little strange, walking through the palace hand in hand, Riley wearing his clothing, like they were flaunting things. At least Liam was in Lythikos for the night, so there was no chance of running into him on their way back to Drake’s quarters. Once they locked his door, Riley led him over to the couch, tugging him down with her as she let out a large sigh. She curled her legs up on the sofa, leaning her head against his shoulder. It was peaceful, comfortable, but Drake couldn’t help feeling uneasy. As comforting as it was to have her next to him, it just seemed like there was a divide between them. That everything they’d been through over the past couple of weeks had twisted and tangled everything they had, and Drake wasn’t quite sure how to start fixing it. Things weren’t bad between them per say, just… harder. Stranger. But where do you start when you probably have to talk about everything?

Riley flipped on the TV, changing the channel to some mindless sitcom to fill the silence. Drake felt her head getting heavy on his shoulder after the first episode. His move to reach for the remote was enough to jostle her awake. Her eyes blinked open and she looked around for a few seconds, trying to get her bearings. She moved to climb off the sofa, but Drake placed his hand on top of hers, effectively stopping her in her tracks.

“Are we going to be okay?”

She smiled at him gently, leaning over and kissing him before she said, “I’m gonna brush my teeth and head to bed, okay?”

He nodded, watching her walk toward his en suite bathroom, wondering if he should read into the fact that she hadn’t exactly answered his question.


	12. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drake makes some decisions about his future and Liam turns to some unlikely sources to help him move forward.

Liam sighed, sitting in an armchair in front of the fireplace in Olivia’s private office. It had been a long day. No, a very long week. Between the funeral preparations, concerns over possible attacks at the funeral, and public appearances, he hadn’t really had any time to catch his breath. Madeleine had been trying to pick up some slack, for which he was grateful, but there were certain requirements she just couldn’t or _shouldn’t_ be tasked with. For instance, she and Leo could barely be trusted in the same room together without her lashing out and snapping at him.

Leo being around was both a blessing and a curse. Having someone who was also mourning the loss of their father on a personal level who he could talk to was a godsend. But Leo’s methods of coping were not always the most helpful in the big picture. Drinking to the point that they both had nearly blacked out, remembering both the good and the bad, had seemed like a good idea in the moment, but Leo didn’t have to attend the Security Council meeting hungover the next morning. Plus, as complicated as Liam’s own relationship with Father had been, it was nothing on the dynamic between Leo and Father.

While he hadn’t been sleeping much since the first attack at the Homecoming Ball, things had gotten even worse since Father’s death. There was just so much that needed to get done, and ultimately he was the only one who could handle most of it. Plus, there was the fact that when he finally laid down at night, his mind was filled with so many thoughts, it was difficult to process them all. From the safety of those closest to him to the protection of the citizens at large, from the calls for his abdication to the unwavering support of a select few, from his upcoming marriage and the need to produce an heir to his very recent heartbreak, it was hard to quiet things enough to gain any restful sleep.

He had thought he’d been putting on a good front, but after his opening remarks, during his first dance of the night with Olivia, she’d encouraged him to duck out and head to her office when he got a chance. This had left Madeleine alone for the rest of the night and responsible for the closing remarks. Liam could tell she was annoyed by this turn of events, but at the same time, she’d not expressed too much frustration towards him, so he must have been showing some signs of his utter physical and emotional exhaustion. Otherwise, he was sure she would have made her displeasure known.

As needed as some time to himself was, sitting in Olivia’s office with just his glass of wine and no distractions had led to some introspection that he’d been avoiding for nearly a month at this point. Riley and Drake. Together. Since his engagement, Drake had said. Since his father had driven a wedge between him and Riley, making sure what they had would never come to be.

For some reason, it seemed to be getting harder to process than easier. It was like the more he saw and learned about the two of them together, the less sense it all made. The Riley he’d caught glimpses of since he’d learned of their affair was somehow the same woman he fell in love with and a completely different person at the same time. She’d always had a playful sense of humor that he’d adored, but he now was beginning to understand what Drake meant when he’d called her a “snarky piece of work” that would scandalize most of the court and press back when the social season was just starting. How had he been ready to marry her, to start a life with her, to have children with her when there were parts of her personality he’d never fully seen? It would have been one thing if she had been a political match, but she wasn’t. He’d never felt anything before like what he’d felt with her. But had he even known her?

The fact that it was Drake she chose over him complicated his emotions even more. Liam had always hoped that Drake would find someone someday, someone who saw past the bitterness and anger to the deep affection and loyalty he had for those he truly loved. But why did it have to be _her_? And why hadn’t he approached Liam when things had started to develop between them? What had compelled his best friend to sneak around behind his back for months? And had they really been that great at hiding their relationship, or had he just been oblivious, maybe only seeing things as he wished they were?

Everything just didn’t quite add up, as if Liam was missing some crucial pieces of information. He just wasn’t sure how to best go about getting them at this point. Drake and Riley were leaving the day after tomorrow, and with having to put in an appearance at the festival in Lythikos, there was not going to be much time to really talk. And even if they did talk, Liam wasn’t sure he could afford to delve too deeply into the whole situation. Doing so would undoubtedly dredge up a wide variety of emotions that could cloud his judgement, and with the terror threat still ever-looming, he needed to remain clear headed.

He raised his glass to take another sip of wine and was surprised to find it empty. Walking over to the sideboard, he was pouring himself a refill of the strong vintage when the door slowly opened.

“Glad to see you decided to help yourself to one of my most expensive bottles,” said Olivia as she shut the door behind her.

Liam smiled a little at her joke. The Nevrakis wine collection was legendary, and Olivia had added to it extensively herself over the past few years. Even a several thousand dollar bottle was unlikely to be noticed as missing. It was nice to be able to crack a smile. There was almost no one who would joke around with him these days. “Would you like a glass?”

Olivia nodded and moved over to one of the armchairs in the corner, “I need a drink after having to deal with your fiancée.”

“What did she do now?” Liam asked with a sigh as he passed her a glass and sat down in the other armchair.

“Oh, just some comments in her closing remarks about the _loyalty_ of the citizens of Lythikos that I’m guessing she ad libbed from your prepared statement that seemed highly specific to the leader of said region.”

“I’m sorry. I should have known she’d do something like this. She’s not pleased I asked you to be in her court.”

Olivia shrugged. “She’s just lucky this dress doesn’t allow for me to carry more than two weapons.”

“Olivia…”

“I kid, I kid, at least somewhat. So what have you been up to since you made your escape?”

“Just thinking.”

“About?”

“Olivia, can I ask you… Did Riley and Drake being together surprise you?”

Her eyebrows quirked up slightly, but she showed no other sign of surprise at the turn the conversation had taken. “Honestly?”

“Yes, of course.”

“I mean, I suspected they were hooking up on your engagement tour. They were always next to each other, teasing each other, and there was definitely an increase in the amount of physical contact between the two of them as time went on.”

“Huh,” was all Liam could muster. He could feel Olivia’s eyes on him, but he stared into his wine glass, not quite ready for any eye contact. After a few seconds, Olivia must have decided to clarify her statement.

“Their decision to move in together did catch me off guard, but I thought it was pretty clear they were into each other. But really, talking to Hana or Maxwell is going to get you more information. They spent way more time together, and quite frankly, probably cared a lot more than I did.”

Liam sighed heavily, “It seems like I was the only one who had no clue there was an attraction there.”

“Yeah, well I’m guessing you had more important things on your mind than watching the body language of two commoners.”

“Olivia…” Liam warned, not having the energy to deal with any ingrained snobbery.

“Sorry, sorry. Not trying to offend here. Where is this coming from?”

“Never mind, I just was caught off guard by their interactions at breakfast this morning.”

“You had breakfast with them?”

“Yes, I had them come stay at the palace last night. They were staying at a hotel if you can imagine.”

Olivia let out a little snort that quickly morphed into a chuckle.

“What’s so amusing?”

“You really are a glutton for punishment aren’t you? Why would you invite the two of them into your home?”

“He’s my best friend, Olivia.”

“He’s fucking the woman you love.”

“I can’t lose him over this, though. I need to find a way to move past this.”

“So you decided to move them into the palace as a what? Royal blessing?”

“I had to do something. I have to figure out how to handle seeing the two of them together.”

A long sigh escaped Olivia before she continued, “Do you want some advice?”

Liam turned to face her fully at that statement. Clearly, Olivia had her heart broken at some point, but he wasn’t sure when or by whom. Still, if she had some insight, he would be a fool not to listen, so he nodded.

“You like spending time with her, right? Well, that has to be enough from here on out. You aren’t going to get anymore from her.”

Liam nodded, but Olivia was far from done. “Anytime you find yourself wondering ‘what if,’ you have to remind yourself that she rejected you. She knew she could have had you, and she didn’t want you. All she wants from you is friendship, nothing more.

“You can try to channel everything into being a good friend, focus on that, but be careful. Just because she’s nice to you doesn’t mean she regrets her choice.”

“I know she doesn’t love me, it’s just…”

“It hurts to see her clearly in love with someone else?”

“Yeah, it does,” Liam looked up to see Olivia staring into her own wine glass. “So I’m guessing your knowledge on this topic comes from first-hand experience?”

Olivia’s head jerked up and she stared at him, but her eyes lacked their usual fire. Instead she just looked tired. She shrugged slightly, “You could say that.”

“Is this how you got over it?”

There was a pause before Olivia answered, “Let’s just call it a work in progress.”

Liam tilted his head to the side, trying to determine who Olivia could have been in love with recently. She hadn’t been pursuing anyone during the engagement tour as far as he knew and before that was the social season… The realization washed over him as he recounted moments between the two of them over the past several years. Conversations held at formal dinners, dancing with her at various balls, the kiss he had assumed was meant to unsettle the other suitors. Here he was, bemoaning that Riley didn’t love him to the one person who had to have been hurt the most by that sentiment. He should have seen her intentions. He needed to apologize for not recognizing her feelings.

She must have noticed the change in his expression, because her eyes hardened and she rolled her shoulders back before she spoke again.

“Don’t you dare say anything. I can handle rejection, but I will not tolerate your pity.”

“But Olivia, I-”

“Not another word. I’m deadly serious, Liam. I don’t care if it’s treason, I have two knives on me right now, and I will not hesitate to use them if we go any further down this road. Understood?”

He swallowed and gave her a small nod, “Understood.”

“Good,” Olivia said, raising her glass to clink against his. They sat in a comfortable silence for several minutes, both lost in their own thoughts as they finished their wine.

* * *

Drake looked around, trying to process the destruction in front of him. The pictures hadn’t conveyed just how bad it was. But now, standing here at Applewood, it fully hit him. There was nothing left. Absolutely nothing.

It was on impulse that he’d asked Bastien to head to the orchard on the way to his parent’s old home. The plan had initially been for him and Riley to go and box up some family mementos to be shipped over, but after Maxwell whined incessantly yesterday about not getting enough Riley time, she’d agreed to meet him and Hana for lunch in the capital. However, this threw a pretty big wrench in their plans when Riley informed Drake that the last time she drove was when she was 17 years old and had been dating a guy who lived in New Jersey.

“I grew up in Manhattan, Drake. I didn’t exactly ever need to learn to drive,” she’d said to him that morning, like that was supposed to be some perfect explanation. Regardless, they’d had to adjust. Bastien had agreed to essentially chauffeur them out to the Walker home, then take Riley to the restaurant, before returning to help Drake with some packing. But as they were riding along, Drake had asked Bastien to swing by Applewood. It was basically on the way, and Drake wanted to get a sense of what Liam had been facing first hand.

It was worse than he ever could have imagined. There wasn’t a single tree left. Centuries of agriculture, of history, of national pride. All gone. And he’d been off fucking a girl in a different country.

“ _That’s not exactly a fair assessment_ ,” he thought when Riley came up behind him, wrapping her arms around him in a comforting embrace. It wasn’t just some girl; it was _the_ girl. Being with her hadn’t been a way to avoid his responsibilities. She was his responsibility. But that didn’t erase the fact that his best friend had been left to handle everything alone while he was off getting laid. With the girl his best friend loved.

The weight of the guilt only increased when they pulled into the driveway of his parent’s home. Being at Constantine’s funeral had brought up a lot of memories of his own father, and now being here again, where they had spent so much time together, it irritated the wound that most days felt like it was basically healed.

Riley grabbed his hand as soon as they were out of the car, almost as if she knew how tough it would be for him to be back here.

“Little different from the palace, huh?” he said, gesturing towards the small home tucked behind a few trees.

“A lot nicer than the apartments I grew up in,” she replied with a shrug.

He gave her a brief tour of the place, showing her his old childhood bedroom with walls covered with posters of football players, the kitchen with its olive green appliances, the living room with family photos that did not show any progression of time since he was 14 years old. He stopped outside his dad’s office, though. He hadn’t been in there in 15 years. Riley ran her thumb over the back of his hand soothingly, but he couldn’t bring himself to open the door.

“Ahem.”

Both he and Riley jumped slightly as they turned around, startled by Bastien’s reappearance. “Ms. Liu, we should probably head out in order to make your lunch reservation. Drake, I can take care of your father’s office when I return, if you’d like.”

Drake nodded mutely. Riley tugged him around to fully face her, staring into his eyes, “Are you gonna be okay here? I don’t have to go to lunch.”

“Nah, Liu. I’ll be fine.”

She nodded, but the look in her eyes was clearly skeptical. Still, she took him at his word, giving his hand one last squeeze before she let go and walked toward the front door with Bastien.

It turned out going through the house, even just to decide which items he wanted to ship to New York, was a huge project. He hadn’t been out here in basically a year, and hadn’t spent any significant time here in over five years. Quite frankly, he’d severely underestimated the amount of crap that had been left behind. He’d barely made a dent in his bedroom by the time Bastien returned from dropping off Riley.

“I brought us back some food,” he said from the doorway.

So he and Bastien ate lunch, laughing about all the times that he’d let Savannah and him stay up late watching horror movies and other misadventures in babysitting. After finishing their meals, the two of them had dipped into his father’s bar, sharing more stories from years and years ago. They didn’t exactly get drunk, but Drake knew he wasn’t exactly sober. And not-sober Drake was even less motivated to pack up the house.

Drake knew that there were a lot of reasons that he was avoiding boxing up this house that hadn’t really felt like home since his father’s death. Quite frankly, with all the upheaval in his life over the past month, digging through his childhood memories felt like an unneeded burden. He had enough to process without revisiting pains that were over a decade old. Also, it seemed like a rather pointless endeavor. There were very few items he would want to keep, and most of them would be useless in New York City. What would he do with his dad’s fishing rod or tackle box in New York? Where would he store their tent in Riley’s tiny studio? He could maybe grab a couple of family photos, but he would feel weird adding them to Riley’s shelves. Plus, it’s not like he was putting the house on the market or anything. He and Savannah were both named on the deed, and he really hadn’t talked with her about selling it. So instead of doing the task he’d set out to complete, he reminisced about his dad.

He had to wonder what his dad would think if he could see him now. Would he be happy that he was attempting to forge his own path? Proud that he was trying to do right by the woman he loved? Or would he be disappointed that he’d abandoned king and country when they needed him most? Ashamed that he’d ignored the olive branch extended by his sister? Horrified that he neglected his duties in a time of crisis? His father had always stressed doing the right and honorable thing, even when it was the difficult choice. Would his father have even accepted him being with Riley, knowing that the foundation of their relationship was built on the deception of his best friend?

He didn’t bring anything back to the palace with him, brushing off Bastien with an excuse about the size of Riley’s place. He knew what he needed to do, he just didn’t know if he was going to have the courage to do it.

* * *

It was well after dinner time when Maxwell and Hana dropped Riley off at the palace. Their lunch had led to drinks followed by a dinner consisting of only desserts and pastries. It had been great spending time with them, but Riley knew she needed to get back and help Drake pack up some of his belongings in his quarters. Their flight wasn’t until the afternoon, but Riley was hoping Drake would take some time in the morning to spend with Liam. He would be back from Lythikos sometime tonight, but tomorrow he didn’t have any formal meetings scheduled, so it would be the perfect time for the two of them to actually talk.

When she got back to Drake’s quarters, she was surprised to find them empty. Things must be taking longer than expected at his parent’s house. She pulled out her phone to text him when a knock on the door startled her. She had no idea if it was technically okay that she was here without Drake. Obviously, everyone was just kind of looking the other way and ignoring the fact that she was sleeping there, but would it be okay for her to be there alone early in the evening?

“Drake, are you there? It’s me,” trickled through the door. The voice was muffled, but it was clearly Liam’s.

Riley hesitated for just a moment before heading to the door. Liam eyes widened briefly at the sight of her, but he quickly composed himself, giving her a friendly smile.

“Good evening, Riley. I was hoping I might speak to Drake.”

“He’s not here.”

“Oh.”

The silence that followed was awkward, stilted, heavy. Liam turned to leave, as he said “Alright, well I’ll see you both tomorrow before you leave,” but Riley felt wrong leaving it at that.

“Why don’t you come in and wait for him?”

The invite had slipped out before she really thought it through. Liam stopped in his tracks though, and gave her a smile that actually reached his eyes as he stepped into Drake’s quarters.

As the door closed behind him, the awkwardness began to seep back in, but both of them seemed determined to squash it away.

“A drink,” said Riley, walking over to the hutch that Drake had apparently kept stocked with whiskey, “Let’s have a drink.”

“That sounds perfect.”

After pouring two whiskey neats, Riley settled onto the opposite end of the couch, handing Liam one of the glasses.

“So where is Drake?”

“He’s packing some things up at his parent’s house.”

“I suppose that makes sense.”

“I kinda thought he’d be back by now. He’s supposed to decide what he wants to ship over from here,” Riley added, gesturing around the suite.

“Why wouldn’t he take everything?”

“Square footage is kind of limited in New York City.”

“Ahh, yes. My apologies.”

Riley waved him off. He had no way of comprehending how tiny the average NYC studio was. She took another sip of her whiskey, trying to think of another topic of conversation.

“How was Lythikos?”

Liam gave a little shrug, “The Winter Festival is always a highlight. With how much snow they get there, they always look to celebrate the start of the season as early as possible.”

“I can’t believe you went right after your father’s funeral. I was useless for like a month after my mother’s funeral.”

“Yes, well… The country doesn’t stop for familial loss. My father would have wanted me to be there.” Liam took at larger drink of whiskey at that, and it was impossible to miss the way he stared into his glass.

“You can talk to me about it, you know,” Riley said after a moment, “I know what it’s like to lose a parent where you had a… complicated relationship.”

“Oh, I won’t burden you with that. I got through my mother’s death when I was much younger. This one should be easier as I’ve had some time to prepare myself.”

“But Liam, he didn’t die from the cancer. It’s okay if this still is shocking to you. It’s normal to be affected by the loss of a parent. No one would blame you if you took some time to grieve.”

He gave her a hollow smile at that statement, “As king, I don’t exactly have the luxury of taking a few days off when there is an active terror threat that still hasn’t been neutralized. Once things have calmed down on that front, I think I’ll probably cancel meetings for a few days, take a little time for myself.”

Riley squinted at him and cocked her head slightly, “And what happens when there is some other crisis that only you can handle?”

Liam let out a little chuckle at that, “Then it’ll have to wait a little longer.”

“Right, because I’m _sure_ there will be a day where everything is one hundred percent calm, and you’ll be able to take as much time as you want to just relax and do nothing.”

That elicited an outright laugh from Liam. “You sound just like Drake.”

Riley didn’t know how to respond to that. It was clear Liam didn’t know exactly how to move past the implications of that sentence either, as an awkward silence settled between the two of them. They both moved to reach for their drinks, clearly looking for something, anything to do now that the conversation had come to a screeching halt.

After a moment, Liam sighed before soldiering on. It didn’t surprise Riley that he spoke first, given all his years of diplomatic experience. What did surprise her was that he didn’t redirect the conversation.

“I suppose it’s not surprising that you sound like him after spending so much time together over the past few weeks.”

“Months, if we’re being honest here. But Liam, do you really think I’ve changed by being with him? Because I can tell you right now, I haven’t. I think you are just seeing a different side of me than you saw when I was on my best behavior during the social season.”

Liam nodded slightly as he said, “ I’m getting that sense.” He took another sip of his drink and paused, seeming to be contemplating his next words. “Drake told me that things between you two started after my engagement, but it seemed like that was a difficult question for you both to answer. I assumed that your hesitation was born out of a desire to shield me from the duration of your relationship, but the more I see of you two together, I have to wonder if there was another reason you were reticent to share things with me.”

Riley swallowed. This seemed like a conversation for Liam and Drake, but at the same time, she wondered if there wasn’t a reason Liam was asking her instead of Drake. It was a fair question, really. He had a right to know. “It’s hard to define exactly when things started, but honestly?” Liam nodded at her, probably trying to be encouraging, but he was radiating tension, as if he was bracing himself for some horrible revelation. Still, Riley knew she had to continue, “I would have answered that question a little differently than Drake did.”

Liam did not seem surprised by her answer, continuing to stare at her as he waited for more details.

“I would say that things started between us at Applewood.”

“The time we were there after my engagement?”

Riley shook her head, “No, the first time I was there.”

Liam nodded slowly, eyes staring up at the ceiling. Riley wasn’t sure whether she should keep talking, or if more details would just be cruel at this point, but in a flash, Liam composed his face, a gentle smile taking the place of his pained grimace. “Thank you for your honesty, Riley. I think I will leave you for the evening. It’s been a long day.”

“But Drake-”

“I’ll talk to him tomorrow. Goodnight, Riley.”

“Goodnight, Liam.”

He set down his glass on the coffee table and walked out of Drake’s quarters, giving Riley a slight nod of farewell as he shut the door. He couldn’t have been gone for even a minute when Drake entered, shoulders sagging and eyes downcast.

“Hey you, I was wondering when you’d be back. You just missed Liam.”

His eyes shot up to hers at that. “What was he doing here?”

“Looking for you. He wanted to chat before we leave tomorrow. Speaking of which, we’ve got some packing to do here.”

Drake sighed and shook his head, taking another deep breath before he spoke again. “Liu, I can’t head back with you tomorrow.”


	13. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drake and Riley struggle to understand each other’s point of view and balance their own needs with each other’s. At the same time, Olivia has an interesting conversation with her aunt.

Riley felt like she might faint. Drake’s words hit her emotionally before she could even fully process them. She _knew_ this was going to happen. She’d known it since the first attack.

“I should have known you would do this to me.”

“Liu, _no_. This doesn’t have anything to do with-”

“Bull _shit_ this doesn’t have anything to do with me! Drake, do you even hear yourself right now?”

Drake sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “I know this seems bad, but you have to believe me-”

“I don’t _have_ to do _anything_ ,” she threw out, the frustration and fear bubbling out of her, “Not when you come in here and drop this bomb on me.”

“I’m trying to explain, Liu,” he said, eyes downcast and heavy sighs escaping him, “It’s not like I plan to stay here forever. I just have to take care of some things.”

“What things?”

“Dumb doesn’t suit you, Liu. You know what I’m talking about here.”

“Fine. How long?”

“What?” he asked, clearly thrown by her rapid redirection of the conversation.

“How much longer do you need to stay here?”

“Liu…”

“It’s a simple question, Drake,” she said, crossing her arms and stepping up in front of him, getting close enough he had to make eye contact, “You’re telling me that your staying here isn’t forever. I just want to know how long you _are_ planning on remaining in Cordonia.”

He swallowed roughly, but kept his eyes locked on hers. “I don’t know.”

“Don’t you see why that might be frustrating to me?”

“I know, but I don’t know what else to say. I’m not gonna lie to you. I’m sorry, but I don’t know how long this will take.”

“Fine, you won’t give me a timeline,” she said, stepping away from him and starting to pace across the room, “Then at least tell me what needs to happen before you’ll consider leaving.”

“Come on, Riley. It’s not like I can make a checklist here.”

She pivoted back toward him, gesturing emphatically, “Do you see how this doesn’t look good from where I’m standing?”

“I get that, but this is something I _need_ to do. I have to make things right here, and I think I’ve pretty much proved that it won’t happen if I’m in New York by this point.”

Riley shook her head, trying to will herself not to cry, at least not yet. Once the tears started flowing, she knew it would be harder for her to make her point, but she just felt so ambushed right now. “The worst part is I’m not supposed to get mad at you because your reason for leaving me is a noble one.”

“Leaving you? No, Riley, I would never-”

“See, you say you would never, but the fact is that you just told me you plan to stay in a different country indefinitely. That feels an awful lot like you leaving me.”

Drake ran his hands over his face, clearly trying to come up with the right thing to say. “This won’t be forever, Liu.”

Riley couldn’t stop the tears at this point. “Are you sure about that?”

“Riley, believe me I’m coming back,” he said, grabbing her by her shoulders, staring at her with so much intensity. It was clear he believed his words, but Riley couldn’t help but feel he was being naive. There would always be a reason for him to stay. Liam would face some new stress, Savannah would need his help, and he would never say no. This did not feel like it was going to be temporary.

Drake seemed to be emboldened by the fact that she hadn’t moved away from his touch, tugging her into a loose hug. But Riley couldn’t find it in herself to uncross her arms and hug him back. Her mind was still swirling, racing, half trying to find a way to convince him to come back with her and half trying to reel her emotions back under control. Her thoughts were all over the place, but one thread kept weaving its way through all of them.

“How long have you known?”

“What?” Drake pulled back, not following her train of thought.

“How long have you known that you were going to stay in Cordonia?”

“Just today.”

“Come _on_ , Drake. You can’t expect me to believe that.”

The first flicker of anything other than sadness and guilt flashed across his face at those words, fire lighting in his eyes for the first time she could remember since he’d found out about Constantine’s death, “Why wouldn’t you believe me? What have I ever done to you that you won’t trust me on this?”

“Maybe the fact that you clearly hate living in New York and have not made any real attempts to fit in there?”

“No attempts- Shit, Liu,” he fumbled for words briefly as he ran his hand through his hair before starting again, “I hunted endlessly for jobs, all of which sounded awful. I started to learn my way around your noisy, crowded neighborhood. I took care of your dog and cooked you meals. I came down to see you at work every night. Tell me what fucking more I could have done to fit in!”

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe come out for drinks with me and my friends? Tried to get to know the owner of the diner or form any sort of friendship there? Join a gym and get to know some guys? Basically anything other than retreating to the apartment in your free time and turning yourself into some sort of hermit?” Riley could practically feel the sarcasm dripping from her words at this point, matching the tears that continued to trickle down her cheeks.

“You knew I wasn’t some goddamn social butterfly, and you insisted you wanted to be together anyway. If you wanted to be with someone who was gonna be the perfect boyfriend to take out and show off to your friends, you should have just stayed with Liam!”

“How many fucking times do I have to tell you I DON’T FUCKING WANT TO BE WITH LIAM?” she yelled, anger rapidly overriding her other storm of emotions. “I’ve told you this for months! Stop fucking doubting me!”

“Why is it when I have doubts about you and Liam, I’m the one in the wrong, but when you have doubts about me coming back to New York, I’m _still_ the one in the wrong?” he growled, hands waving between the two of them in frustration. “It’s a bunch of bullshit that your insecurities are worth addressing, but mine are somehow insane and you can just shit all over them.”

“Except you have no evidence that I have _any_ desire to be with Liam. My fears are very founded, Drake. You have been halfway to Cordonia since the night of the first attack. You never even unpacked your fucking suitcase.” Riley paused to take a breath before the root of it all spilled out of her. “Hell, I practically had to drag you into this relationship. You may tell me you aren’t leaving me, but your actions have always told a very different story.”

Drake opened his mouth as if to respond, but paused for several tense moments before he finally said, “I’m not sure which half of that is _more_ wrong. Did I just imagine you flirting with Liam? Kissing Liam? Pursuing a relationship with him for months during the social season while whatever the hell was going on between us grew into some fucking dirty secret?”

Riley’s eyes dropped to ground. He wasn’t wrong, but those early interactions with Liam felt like a lifetime ago. Drake must have sensed her guilt, because he continued his rant at a softer volume and pace. “Am I just supposed to pretend that those first few months didn’t happen? Because I fucking can’t, Liu. And I know I should move past it and let it go, but every time I fail you, I can’t help it. My brain just goes there. And it’s hard to shake.

“As far as my actions, I don’t know what to stay other than I stayed. I may have been grumpy. I may have been unhappy. But I fucking stayed because I wanted to be with you, no matter the cost.”

Riley scowled at that, “Don’t turn yourself into some martyr here.”

“Sorry, I know I’m not saying this right. I’m just trying to tell you that what we have mattered more to me than all the rest of the bullshit. _You_ mattered more.”

“Until now.”

Drake sighed at that. “Being back here, it’s clear that I need to stick around a little longer. Liam needs-”

“Of fucking course he does. Tell me, do you plan to put Liam’s needs above mine forever, or is this just your guilty conscience talking?”

“He’s my best friend! I don’t know what you want me to say.”

“I want you to say you’ll come home with me!”

The plea burst out before Riley could stop herself. It was completely against her better judgement, and she knew his answer before he could even react, but Drake’s eyes fell to the floor before he said, “You know I can’t do that.” His voice was quieter, more cautious.

“Because you have to resolve things here, or because New York isn’t home to you?”

The silence seemed to stretch on forever before he finally replied, “Riley…”

“It’s fine. I knew this would probably happen if you came back here. Give me my keys.”

“No, Riley.”

“If you decide you want to come back, you can take them again. But I can’t risk having to pay to have the building rekeyed if you don’t.”

“I swear I’m coming back. I feel like if I give you the keys, then I _am_ acting like I don’t want to be with you. I love you, Riley. I don’t want to break up. Do _you_?”

“Of course I don’t want to break up, but I have to be realistic about this, and the fact is that there is a decent chance you are going to stay here. Getting left by a boyfriend is bad enough, I’m not going to pay hundreds of dollars on top of that because he was trying to prove a point.”

“You _just_ told me my actions make you think I have one foot out the door, and you expect me to just hand over my keys? Liu, I’m not _that_ much of an idiot.”

Riley wiped away some tears. She appreciated what Drake was saying, appreciated his desire to show her he intended to come back. But the problem wasn’t that she thought he _intended_ to stay in Cordonia forever. It just seemed likely that things would end up shaking out that way. She may not have known Drake for very long, but she knew that once he stayed to be with Liam, he was going to be loyal. With a terror threat, with him losing his dad, there was just no way she was going to get him back.

“ _Maybe I could move here with him_ ,” she thought, but she quickly squashed that idea, at least right now. Her being here was clearly a barrier preventing whatever discussion needed to take place between Drake and Liam. Plus, Drake had not asked her to stay. Surely, if he wanted her here, he would have posed the question.

As if he could read her mind, Drake continued, stepping up to Riley and cupping her cheek, “This isn’t a breakup, Liu. This is just something I gotta do on my own. Don’t make it a breakup by taking back the keys. Please, Riley.”

He ran his hand through her hair, staring at her with desperation in his eyes. He looked as broken as she felt. He always did understand her in a way no one else seemed to.

Before she could stop herself, Riley took a half step forward, completely closing the distance between them as she threw her hands around his neck and yanked him down for for a kiss. He responded instantly, groaning as he pulled her flush against him.

In the back of her mind, Riley knew this wasn’t the wisest course of action, but as his hands sank under her sweater, gliding over her rib cage, she couldn’t quite be bothered to care. It just felt too damn good. And if she never saw him again, she didn’t want to waste another moment of this night. 

* * *

“I was impressed by you yesterday, Olivia. I thought that you had been spending too much time at the capital and that the festival would be a disaster, but I have to say, you proved me wrong.”

Aunt Lucretia raised her coffee mug toward Olivia in a sort-of toast, as if her words would be flattering.

“Yeah, well just because I don’t do things your way doesn’t mean I don’t have a plan.” Olivia knew her response made her sound like a petulant child, she just couldn’t help it. Years of neglect, but suddenly she pops up just to pass judgment on Olivia’s governing decisions? It was insulting and ridiculous, and Olivia prayed that this successful Winter Festival might send her away once again.

“I confess I thought you were just blindly loyal to the crown, but seeing the way you’ve handled the King, I am happy to acknowledge that you truly are a Nevrakis.”

“What are you talking about, Aunt Lecretia?”

“Why, your affair with King Liam, of course.”

Olivia nearly choked on her sip of coffee at her aunt’s accusation. “I don’t know where you are getting your information from, but I assure you that-”

“Oh, don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me. I know he stayed in your office alone with you very late after the ball the other night. Smart of you to use your office instead of either of your rooms, I might add. Will keep suspicion low.”

Olivia was floored by her aunt’s conclusion. Did a private conversation with Liam really set off rumors of a sexual relationship? She was the Duchess of Lythikos, for fuck’s sake! There were hundreds of reasons for her to meet privately with the King. She didn’t want to reveal the truth too early, though. She didn’t know where her aunt was going with this, and if her aunt was in a sharing mood, it might be best to play things close to her vest for now.

“I might need to make some changes if my staff is gossiping with you about my romantic involvement with him.” There, that didn’t convey too much, and hopefully it would get Aunt Lucretia talking.

“Oh no, my dear. They just told me where he was when I was looking for him toward the end of the ball that night. I put two and two together when I thought about how much time you are spending at the capital. It’s very smart, really. Men always grow to resent their wives, but a mistress can influence things for a long time if she knows what she’s doing.

“When I heard you lost out on an engagement to Madeleine Aramanth, I thought you must be a complete waste of the Nevrakis name. It’s why I had to hire PIs to follow some of the other members of court, to see if there were any scandals that might disrupt his commitment to her. It’s how I found out that our dear king was so partial to a common waitress from America. I’ve been wondering, did you encourage her relationship with the commoner Walker, or was that just a fortuitous coincidence?”

Olivia contemplated her response carefully. She needed to keep her aunt talking, that much was clear. “Well, their attraction didn’t take _much_ encouragement.”

“Good girl,” said Aunt Lucretia with a wink, “I am so sorry I underestimated you. I wish I had known your plan all along. I fear that my actions may have hindered you at certain points, but you have to understand, I had no idea that you were taking these steps behind the scenes. I’m sorry I had so little faith in you. I should have known a Nevrakis would never just roll over and accept defeat.”

Olivia bypassed the backhanded compliments and focused on the part of her aunt’s statement that had her the most curious. “What do you mean, your actions may have hindered me?”

“Oh, trying to force an abdication kind of undoes all the work you’ve put into building a connection with the King, doesn’t it?”

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek so forcefully she could taste the blood in her mouth, but she needed to keep her expression neutral, no matter how tempting it would be to pick up her knife and stab it into this traitor’s heart. Her aunt was clearly a part of the attacks, possibly even the primary orchestrator, and right now, she thought Olivia was on her side. She had to keep her thinking that way. Olivia raced to try to piece together her aunt’s plan and her end goal here. It had to be to get a Nevrakis on the throne. If Aunt Lucretia was regretting working towards abdication, that would mean that she was hopeful that Liam would produce an heir with her before he did so with Madeleine. Olivia knew how she had to play this.

“Yes, and wouldn’t you agree that producing an heir would be a much more skillful way of gaining power than forcing a messy abdication that will leave the population torn as to who is the rightful leader?”

Lucretia’s lips curled into a wide grin, “I should have had more faith in you. You truly are a Nevrakis through and through, with great strength and cunning. Now that I know your endgame, I have something I think might help you. I have a piece ready to run tomorrow on the Cordonia News Network about this Riley Liu and her relationship with both the king and with Walker.”

“How would that help me?”

“Don’t you see, Olivia? It will highlight his heartbreak for the whole world to see. He will turn to you for comfort, and, shall we say, certain _protective measures_ might be forgotten in the heat of the moment.”

Olivia suppressed a shudder at her aunt’s statement. She had to convince her aunt to delay the story while she figured out how best to handle this whole situation. She also had to get out of the dining room soon. Her anger had reached a dangerous breaking point, and her cover would soon be blown if her temper flared. Olivia knew she had many strengths, but keeping a calm and steady hand really wasn’t one of them.

“Aunt Lucretia, I appreciate the sentiment, but I fear that such a mistake on Liam’s part right now would be a detriment to me in the long run. We do not need to be so hasty; Liam is not sleeping with Madeleine at this point, and they have yet to set a new wedding date. Let me fully gain his trust. Hold off on that story for now, please.”

Aunt Lucretia narrowed her eyes, but nodded after a moment. “Very well, I have some other matters to address now that I fully understand you plan of action. The story can wait, but know that it is available if you need it. I am here to support you. Together, we can get a Nevrakis on the throne, where we rightfully belong.”

“Thank you, Aunt Lucretia,” Olivia replied, grasping her aunt’s bony hand in what she hoped came across as a sign of solidarity. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to head to my office to read through my daily communications.”

“Of course, dear.”

Olivia rose from the table and walked out of the dining room as calmly as possible. When she had made it around several corners, she let out a string of curses under her breath before she pulled out her phone and contacted her driver. She needed to get to the palace _now_.

* * *

Riley’s suitcase was fairly small and light, but Drake felt like he was holding hundreds of pounds as he carried it over to baggage screening.

This wasn’t how things were supposed to go down. He never wanted his life to turn into this messy, complicated ball of crap. But no matter how he thought about it, at the end of the day, he was letting down one of the two most important people in his life.

He’d gone over things hundreds of times in his mind. Trying to make things work, for Liam and Riley. Finding a way to be there for both of them. But he just couldn’t figure it out. So he’d had to make a choice. He just wasn’t sure it was the right one.

But Liam needed him, that much was clear. Even in the limited time they had spent together since his father’s funeral, Drake could tell that Liam wasn’t coping well. He was smiling too much, plastering on his diplomatic mask all the time. There was the slight tremor in his hands, probably due to the fact that he wasn’t really sleeping and just running on pure caffeine at this point. He hadn’t had any breakfast in front of him the other morning, and he’d basically just moved food around his plate at the dinner after the funeral. He wasn’t handling things at all, and if he didn’t find a way to process some shit soon, Liam was going to shut down.

Riley wasn’t wrong when she said he was staying with Liam out of guilt. Of course he felt guilty, not just for his relationship with Riley, but for not being there for Liam during this crisis, through attacks and his father’s death. It was like university all over again. And again, he choose to be with Liam. He just hoped it wouldn’t cost him his relationship with Riley like it had cost him things with Natalie back then.

Of course, the situation with Riley wasn’t exactly identical to how things had been with Natalie. He’d had the tough conversation with Riley instead of bolting without an in-person goodbye. His text to Natalie after landing in Cordonia had been met with a barrage of expletive-loaded messages, calling him every name under the sun. It had saddened him, but he hadn’t felt regret like he did now. The pain he’d caused Natalie had barely been a blip on the radar. The pain he was causing Riley cut him to his core. But he just couldn’t see a way around it. Not only did he feel a sense of obligation to Liam, one of the few people who had always been there for him, who always looked out for him, but he also knew he wouldn’t be able to move forward in his life, in any shape or form, without mending things with Liam. And that clearly wasn’t going to happen long distance if the past month was any indication.

Supporting his friend, saving that bond, might have cost him the woman he was pretty convinced was the love of his life, though. Their talk or fight or whatever the hell last night was had been all over the place. There had been tears. Yelling. Painful confessions. Pleas. Sex. As Riley drifted off to sleep last night, laying with her head against his shoulder and her arm thrown across him, he wasn’t really sure where they stood. This morning, Riley had slept in, not leaving them much time to talk before he had to take her to the airport. The thing that reassured him most was that she’d held his hand the entire drive to the airport and had not requested her keys back since last night. Still, he could sense that she’d thrown up some pretty big walls with him. He just wanted her to keep talking, hell even keep yelling at him. But she was closed off. Guarded. Quiet. He wasn’t used to seeing her like this. Then again, prior to last night, he’d never felt like he did anything that broke her trust. She was obviously protecting herself, but it was endlessly frustrating. The irony of the fact that Riley herself probably felt the same way about him at various points during the social season wasn’t lost on him.

The line for security was blissfully short, but for once, it would have been nice to be held up. To have just a few more minutes with her. He didn’t know when he would see her next, not to mention he didn’t know if he would be able to repair their relationship when he did. A part of him wanted to drag her out of the line. Beg her to stay in Cordonia with him. Tell her how much he needed her by his side. But he knew that part of him was selfish. She had just started rebuilding her life in New York. She had a job; she had friends; she had a home. He couldn’t ask her to give all that up for an indefinite amount of time. Not when she had already given up everything for him.

They were now only two groups back from the security agent. He should say goodbye now. It wasn’t about to get any easier by waiting any longer. All holding off was doing was delaying the inevitable.

“Liu, I-”

“I get it, Drake. I do. But that doesn’t mean I’m happy about it.”

Drake nodded, dropping his eyes to the ground. All the words that popped into his head felt inadequate. After a few seconds of silence, Riley stepped up to him, her duffel bag gently swinging against his knee.

“Take care of yourself, okay?” She wrapped her arms around him with her words, and Drake felt his own arms pulling her in tighter before he could fully process her goodbye.

“I love you, Riley,” he mumbled against the top of her head.

She held onto him for a few more moments before stepping back from him and moving forward in the queue. There was only one person left ahead of her.

“I’ll let you know when I get home.”

“Liu…”

She grabbed his hand and tugged him toward her for a kiss. It was intense and demanding, desperate and raw. Drake slid his hands through her hair, not knowing when he would get the chance to kiss her again. If she would ever let him kiss her again. All too soon, the sound of a clearing throat interrupted them. It was Riley’s turn to have her passport and ticket verified.

She dropped her bag onto the x-ray machine and stepped through the metal detector, her black hair swinging in her ponytail as she walked toward her terminal. He didn’t take his eyes off her until she rounded the corner. He thought she might not look back at all, but at the last second she turned, her eyes locking on him in an instant. It was hard to tell from a distance, but Drake thought he saw tears trailing down her cheeks. But after a second, she raised her hand and nodded goodbye. Then, she was gone.


	14. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drake tries to process his most recent decisions in regards to Liam and Riley, but some of the palace guests and residents make that difficult.

The Cordonian royal palace had a total of six different lounges, but only one of them was truly a private lounge, tucked away in a back corridor of the royal family’s residential wing. It had been the location of many nights of drinks and cards over the years. The group in attendance had varied, starting with Leo and Bertrand years and years ago. Tariq and Rashad both would drop in if they were in the capital. And more recently, Maxwell had hustled Drake out of more money than he cared to admit over hands of poker. But really, the only constants at these private card games had been Liam and Drake himself. It was strange to sit there now, alone in the middle of the afternoon. But Drake had wanted a drink and a smoke, and it was the only place in the palace where he would find both whiskey and an ashtray and be likely to be left alone.

Drake didn’t know how he felt, exactly. Not that he was ever great at putting his feelings into words, but today was even harder than usual. He didn’t really feel sad. More empty. Hollow.

He took the last drag from his cigarette as he kept rooting through the bar until he found the bottle of Yamazaki 18 tucked behind several other bottles of scotch and whiskey. If there was ever a day that warranted the good stuff, today was that day. Drake poured himself a double on the rocks before carrying his glass and the ashtray over to one of the armchairs by the fireplace. He knew he was wallowing, but he figured he’d earned it. Today just plain sucked.

The drive back from the airport had felt kind of covered in this sort of surreal haze. Had he really just let her get on a plane and leave? But what else could he have done? He had to stay. For Liam. And he couldn’t ask her just to hang around while he dealt with all that. It wasn’t fair to her. She, unlike him, _actually_ had a life in New York. Asking her to abandon all of that just to sit around as some sort of fucking emotional comfort for him was selfish.

And truth be told, her being around would probably be counterproductive. It seemed like the three of them being in the same room was just a recipe for awkwardness. If Drake was actually going to be there for Liam, Riley’s presence would not make things easier. Even though Liam would never say anything, it was clear to anyone with half a brain that seeing him and Riley together was just adding stress. That he wasn’t coping with their relationship as much as he wanted to project that he was. And Drake certainly wasn’t going to stick around just to throw his happiness in Liam’s face. That was the opposite of his goal.

Still, watching her walk away from him at the airport had torn something deep inside him. It felt wrong, and he missed her already. God, he was a pathetic mess. He took a sip of his whiskey before lighting up another cigarette, but was interrupted by the sound of the door creaking open.

It was Leo. _Of course_ he would be the only other person at the palace looking for a stiff drink well before cocktail hour. He strolled in, whistling to himself until he caught sight of Drake, his eyebrows shooting up comically.

“Hey, what are you still doing here? I thought your flight was today.” he asked after a moment, continuing over to the bar and grabbing the bottle of whiskey Drake had left out.

“Yeah, well… I decided to stick around for a while.”

Leo looked up from the bar, seeming to stare at Drake with those words. “You’re here by yourself?”

Drake swallowed roughly, tapping his cigarette against the ashtray’s edge. “Yeah, Liu flew out.”

The only sound was that of a glass being set on the bar and the splash of liquid as Leo poured himself a couple fingers of the whiskey. He took a sip of his drink before he stepped around the bar, raising his glass toward Drake is if in a toast. “I can’t say I’m not a little relieved.”

Drake took a drag off his cigarette, trying to gauge how pissed that should be making him. Leo didn’t always think things through fully, so he probably didn’t mean much by his statement. Still, for _him_ to be the one to give him shit about sticking around? Well, it was pretty damn annoying.

After another sip of his drink, Leo chuckled as he continued, “I thought I was going to have to fly out and track you down again for a moment, there.”

Okay, maybe Leo _did_ mean something. Drake bit his lip, trying to control his temper. He knew he was already on edge, and at the end of the day, Leo really wasn’t worth it. But his patience was tested as Leo continued, “I mean, I _get_ it, the whole ‘following some girl halfway across the world’ thing, but I’m glad you finally came to your senses.”

“My senses?”

“Well, yeah. I know, chasing skirts is fun and all, but at the end of the day, you gotta admit that you belong here, right?”

Drake swallowed, trying to find his words before he spoke. He was trying to control his temper, he really was. But today had sucked enough without having to listen to Leo spout this bullshit.

“I mean, you did have me worried for a minute there. That pussy must be truly spectacular for both you _and_ him to lose your minds over it.”

Drake heard a loud rushing in his ears and realized he as out of his chair and striding over to Leo before he could even think about what he was doing. Leo’s eyes widened and he maneuvered himself behind the bar, the fear evident in his eyes.

“Relax, man. I didn’t mean anything, really. I’m sure she’s a great woman. All I was trying to say is that I’m glad you’ll be here for him.”

“Right, because otherwise you might have to act like his actual brother, not just some drinking buddy.”

“What’s _that_ supposed to mean?”

“Come on, Leo. You’re not gonna stand there and act like you’ve been the brother he deserves, are you?”

Leo scowled, taking a long drink from his glass before he responded, “Just add it to the list. One more way that Leo is a fuckup who could never measure up to his perfect, saintly little brother.”

“Oh, shut the _fuck_ up!” Drake groaned, rolling his eyes. “Nothing you can say will _ever_ make me feel sorry for your irresponsible, hypocritical, entitled ass.”

“You have no idea what the pressure is like! You have never had to carry that weight, knowing you would never be able to-”

“I’m not talking about your abdication, Leo!” Drake yelled, smacking his hand down against the top of the bar. “That’s a whole other thing, and I don’t really want to get into right now. I’m talking about the fact that you have been a shitty brother to him since day one. And guess who always had to be there to pick up the slack?”

“Ah, yes. Drake Walker - a modern-day martyr. Your life has been _sooo_ difficult, what with the living rent-free at a palace, drinking top shelf whiskey, going horseback riding on private trails whenever you wanted. Tell me again of the great woes and tribulations that were thrust upon you because of your burdensome friendship with His Majesty. I know he asked _so much_ of you.”

“Classic Leo, deflect away any real criticism. Nothing is _ever_ your fault, is it? Your father expected too much. The world just didn’t understand you. You weren’t cut out for this life. It’s your own fucking greatest hits album, and I’m so goddamn sick of it. But you know what? Play the fucking victim. Tell me again how fucking hard your privileged little life is. I honestly don’t give a shit. But I’m not gonna stand here and listen to your bullshit tales of how I was somehow the one who mistreated Liam.”

“Let’s see - you fucked the woman he loved and left him alone while terrorists tried to kill him. Am I leaving out any other recent developments?”

“Are we just gonna pretend that the first 28 years of his life didn’t happen? Because last time I checked, you haven’t exactly been some beacon of brotherly support. And rich of you to give me shit for choosing one woman to be with when your whole life has been nothing but a string of girls you claimed were different than all the ones who came before. First there was Charlize, then Fiona, or did Katrina come before her? Then Gigi, and that redhead whose name I never did find out, then-”

“Liam wasn’t in love with any of them. Besides, it’s not like you were some celibate monk all those years.”

“Yet someone I was able to find a way to sleep with women _and_ be there for Liam. You on the other hand, were always just a bit too busy to find time to call and check in.”

“I love my brother, and I tried to be there for him. I’m sorry if my best isn’t up to the impeccable Walker standards,” Leo sneered, finishing his drink and slamming his glass down on the bar.

“You _tried_? Really? Leo, you took a fucking private jet and dragged me away from my life because you couldn’t handle his actual emotions! Then you dumped the crown on him without a backwards glance! I was _always_ the one who had to clean up the mess!”

Leo opened his mouth, undoubtedly ready to defend himself, but the door to the lounge swung open, stopping the two men in their tracks. There was Liam, a scowl etched across his face, “I thought it might be best to inform you that approximately half the palace can hear you right now.”

Drake swallowed roughly, trying to control the anger rolling off him in waves. Fucking Leo. At least he had the decency to look guilty, dropping his eyes to the bartop and taking a deep breath before he spoke again.

“How much did you hear, Liam?”

“More than enough, Leo. Would you mind giving me a moment with Drake?”

“I should have known you’d take his side.”

“You and I will talk later. Right now, I need to speak to Drake.”

Leo stared at Liam for just a second before shaking his head and brushing past him on his way out the door. Drake waited until his footsteps trailed off before he spoke.

“If you had heard some of the shit he was saying, Liam, you-”

“I _did_ hear ‘some of the shit’ he said. I, along with numerous palace employees, heard many things that _both_ of you said. That really isn’t important at the moment. What I’m most interested in is your statement that he dragged you away from your life.”

“Liam, come on. Let’s not do this.”

“Do what, exactly? I am merely asking you to clarify the circumstances under which my brother-”

“Cut the diplomatic bullshit. If you’re going to fight with me, don’t talk to me like I’m some foreign dignitary.”

Liam just shook his head, “I’m not trying to fight with you, Drake. I didn’t even know you were still in the _country_ , so imagine my surprise to hear you and my brother with raised voices, airing what seems to be years of personal grievances loudly enough for all the staff to hear. I’m simply trying to figure out what set both of you off. Leo isn’t usually one who angers like that, so it strikes me that this might be serious.”

“Oh, so you’re saying _I’m_ the one who flies off the handle? The hot-headed commoner can’t control his temper, huh?”

Liam’s eyes widened and he took a beat before he continued, “What the hell is going on with you, Drake? I’m not even sure why you are here, but you seem determined to be furious with someone right now. Why don’t you just take a deep breath and try and-”

“Don’t you _dare_ try to tell me to calm down. Don’t fucking placate me just to fucking keep the peace. I’m not some foreign diplomat, Liam. I’m supposed to be your friend. So don’t fucking treat me like we’re in the midst of a treaty negotiation.”

Liam sighed heavily. “Drake, all I want to do is figure out what is bothering you. I care about you, and I know whatever transpired between you and Leo-”

“Cut the bullshit; you came in here with a purpose. You had a question for me.”

“That’s not important right now. Hearing the way you are getting upset, seeing you here at all, I just-”

“Ask me your goddamn question, Liam.”

Liam hesitated for just a moment. He was clearly trying to gauge whether Drake was past the point of no return here, some part of Drake’s mind could sense that fact. But right now, his blood was pumping. His frustrations from the past few weeks had boiled over, and he was _pissed_. At Leo. At his life. At himself. And Liam must have realized that, because he decided to feed the beast, knowing there was no other way for Drake to have any sort of rational discussion if he didn’t do him the courtesy of granting him this. 

“What did you mean when you said Leo dragged you away from your life?”

“Did you really never figure out how I was able to afford a last minute flight to Cordonia when I was a broke university student?”

“Leo bought you your ticket back?”

Drake let out a harsh chuckle. “Try Leo fucking showed up on campus, took me in a town car to a private airplane hanger, and put me on the fucking royal jet.”

A range of emotions rolled rapidly across Liam’s face. Confusion. Shock. Deliberation. But finally, a firm hardness settled into his eyes. Liam was in full-on negotiator mode. It wasn’t a role he had to play often, but when he did, it was always a sight to see. He was poised and calculated and sure. It was great to watch him corner people who mistook his kindness and compassion for weakness. Or at least, Drake had always reveled in it before, when it was directed at presumptuous foreign leaders or entitled and under-prepared nobles. He’d never felt it directed at him. 

“So would it be fair to say that it was out of obligation, not friendship, that you returned to Cordonia?”

“No, I came back because I cared about you and I was worried about you.”

“But you never would have returned if it wasn’t made clear to you that I was struggling to cope. You weren’t worried about me. Leo, the _fucking_ flakiest man on the planet, was worried about me. You just served your role. Well, consider you obligation to me over.”

“Liam, stop it!” Drake tried to cut it, but Liam was far from finished, his words piercing through the room like a dagger.

“I now understand what you meant about you being the one who had to clean up the mess. I was just some liability punted from Leo to you.”

“Come on, that’s not-.”

“No, you ‘come on,’ Drake. It was obviously in reference to me. In what ways was I such a burden to you? In what ways did I hold you back from your real life?”

“I didn’t mean it like that, I just-”

“How _did_ you mean it Drake? Anyway I can fathom you meaning it undercuts years of friendship, does it not?”

“No, it doesn’t! This is a two-way street, Liam. I know for a _fact_ that I’ve been a burden to you at some points, too.”

Liam paused, swallowing roughly before he continued. “I never saw it that way. I was grateful to be there for you, someone I consider to be family. You were never a _burden_ to me.”

Drake sighed, “I’ve never been as optimistic as you. I’m sorry that my phrasing is harsh, but you know me. I’m not saying that your friendship is some drain on me. But it is a fact that I had to walk away from some things after that assassination attempt. And I don’t regret doing it; but yeah, I left some things behind.”

“Are you sure you don’t regret it? Because listening to you now, it certainly seems like you hold some resentment there, if it still affects you years after the fact.” 

Drake rubbed his face. How had this spiraled into some discussion of his decision years ago? “Look, you needed me then. Everything else kind of fell by the wayside.”

“I may have appreciated your return, but I certainly didn’t _need_ you. You didn’t even realize that I was struggling. I would have been perfectly able of coping on my own.”

Liam paced away from Drake at that, trying to put some distance between them. Honestly, it somehow pissed Drake off even more. This was fucking revisionist history bullshit, that Leo was some intuitive brother, a saint who tracked down a comfort for Liam out of the goodness of his heart, not some responsibility-phobic asshole who booked it the second things get hard.

“Liam, I don’t know whether you needed me or not. But the fact is having me here was helpful, so I stayed. Not just because Leo asked, but because I cared more about your struggles than my own.”

“But I never asked you to do that! And now, years after the fact, you somehow still find a way to hold that against me.”

“What are you talking about?”

Liam spun around and stalked over towards Drake. He had a burning look in his eyes, but he kept clenching and unclenching his fists, as if he were trying to hold back this raging fire of anger and pain inside of him.

“I always looked past the fact that you were envious of me, understanding that some of the privileges of my station might appear to outweigh the burdens from an outside perspective. But now, hearing all of this, I just wonder if…” Liam trailed off, seeming to gain control of himself once again before he continued speaking. “Nevermind, it’s not important.”

“No, go on and say it.” The anger churning inside Drake wanted, no _needed_ , to hear whatever thought Liam had apparently had decided was worth censoring from him, the one person he was never supposed to have to censor himself around.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“That’s fucking infuriating. You started the thought; you might as well finish it.”

Liam closed his eyes briefly before opening them and staring Drake down. “Fine. I wonder if you didn’t pursue Riley as a way to get back at me.”

Drake paused for a moment, trying to wrap his mind around the absolute insanity he was hearing. “What the _fuck_ , Liam?”

“Maybe not consciously, but yes, since you clearly have some sort of resentment you hold against me, I just have to wonder if you maybe you went after her because you knew how much I liked her.”

“Went after her- God, do you really think so little of me that you think I toyed around with some poor woman just as part of some misguided revenge against you? I don’t even know how to respond to that, Liam. It’s so fucking insulting.”

Liam dropped his gaze at Drake’s statement, having the good grace at least to realize that statement was pretty horrible, but Drake felt more and more words coming up. It seemed like once he and Liam started down this road, he just couldn’t stop the thoughts from flowing out, unchecked and without pause.

“And not just to me. She is a grown ass adult who is perfectly capable of making up her own mind about her own relationships. It’s not like she just sat around, staring off into space, waiting for one of us to come along and convince her to be with us.”

“Stop putting words in my mouth, Drake. It isn’t fair and you know it. I have never treated her with anything but the utmost respect and hospitality.”

“That’s how you treat a distant relative who needs a place to stay for a few days. It’s not how you treat someone you want to marry!”

“Well, I don’t think open disdain is the best way to treat a romantic partner, either.”

Drake knew it was an earned dig. After all, he hadn’t exactly held back with his early cruelty towards Riley when speaking with Liam all those months ago. But to have his first impressions thrown in his face, when he had eaten so much crow and opened up to the woman in question so much? When Liam seemed to be stuck on his own first impressions of Riley? It just pissed him off all over again.

“I at least always treated her as an equal. I didn’t put her on some impossible pedestal she was bound to crash from.”

“I did everything in my power to show a woman that I was falling for her, that I adored her, and somehow that is a problem? I respected her roots and her background with kindness and gentleness. I tried to arrange ways to make her feel comfortable in a new country. I researched how to woo someone who had never been part of the nobility. I did everything I could think of to welcome her into this world. I courted her the best way I knew. In fact, I showed her far more affection than any of the other women here for me, even though it weighed on me that I wasn’t treating the rest of them fairly. Explain to me, Drake, how that degree of romance is somehow less desirable than sarcasm and condescension.” 

“You are so fucking blinded by your cloud of royal entitlement, and you can’t even fucking see it. ‘ _Here for you?_ ’ News flash, Liam - Hana and Maxwell figured it that we were together. I’m pretty sure Bertrand did as well. Hell, my sister claims she knew something was going on between us, and she met Liu for all of an hour. Why is it that you are the only one who didn’t see that something was going on between us?”

Liam opened his mouth to retort, but Drake kept pushing, “I’ll tell you why - you like to think you’re this down to earth royal, but the fact of the matter is, you could never envision a woman willingly choosing to be with me when she had the option to be with you. And maybe I’ve been a shit friend to you in some ways, but guess what? That makes you a pretty shit friend, too. Because you’re willing to sit here and imply that my love is not real, just some petty revenge because you were more important than I could ever be. And you know what? It’s bullshit.” 

“Tell me, Drake - what _is_ the appropriate response in your mind when you find out the woman you were pursuing was sleeping with your best friend and neither one of them saw fit to clue you in?”

“She _tried_ to clue you in. Sure, she could have been more blunt, I guess. But did you really not notice that she stopped sneaking away to meet up for all of your little secret rendezvous? Or how about the fact that she stopped kissing you? But you kept after her. Because _of course_ she was into you. What woman wouldn’t be? Who would choose to be with the lowly commoner instead of the handsome king?”

“Instead of playing the victim here, you could at least treat me with enough respect to acknowledge that you, while claiming to be my best friend, lied to me and let me look like a fool. You could have saved me a lot of pain and heartache. You made the conscious decision not to, and yet you have the gall to stand here and act like I was the one in the wrong.”

Drake glanced away, taking a swig from his glass, but unfortunately it was empty. He couldn’t even get a little distraction as Liam let him have it.

“You always see the worst in people Drake. You claim they see you as less than, that you are somehow treated as worse than others around you based simply on the fact that you were born a commoner. But you never take ownership of your own actions. You expect to be treated with respect when earning _your_ respect is a monumental task that almost no one could ever hope to achieve. You write people off simply for having the misfortune of being born to a different social class, not acknowledging that they have as much control over their heritage as you do over yours. And you expect to be treated with dignity without offering any in return. 

“And I tolerated it, because I knew that there were some people that _did_ treat you as second class, and because you always respected me enough to be one of the few people in my life who granted me complete honesty. But now, that is called into question, because you lied to me, repeatedly. And I have to wonder if you ever cared for me, how you could be so callous in the way you treated me in all of this?”

The question hung in the air, sitting there. It smothered the lounge in thick layer of suspense, neither man able to move forward and speak, yet at the same time unable to look away from each other. Drake felt equal parts guilty and damaged. It seemed like for every critique he’d had of Liam, Liam had his own to hurl right back. Neither one of them held the high ground here. They both were metaphorically beaten and bruised. Eventually, a sharp knock on the door broke the tense silence. After a few more seconds of staring at each other, Liam finally spoke.

“Come in.”

“ _Of fucking course_ ,” thought Drake. Who else would be here but Olivia fucking Nevrakis? 

“Your assistant told me I might find you here, but he looked _awfully_ uncomfortable about that fact. Did he send me to interrupt a lover’s quarrel?”

Drake refused to dignify her with a response, but the complete silence from both of them clearly spoke volumes. Olivia rolled her eyes slightly before she spoke again.

“As much as I would like to stay for the inevitable brawl and see who wins this, I have something to discuss with His Majesty that’s rather time sensitive. Liam, do you mind?”

Liam turned to face Olivia, but even in profile, Drake could sense him plastering on his diplomatic mask once again. “Of course, Lady Olivia. Let’s head to my office.”

And without a backward glance, he was off, falling in stride with Olivia as the two of them exited the room. As soon as the lounge door swung shut, Drake sank into the closest chair, letting out a long sigh. He felt like he had just thrown up, but in that way when you’ve been nauseous all day from a stomach flu, and then when you finally puke, you somehow feel awful but somehow better all at the same time. 

Telling Liam all these thoughts he’d kept to himself. Telling him the thoughts he didn’t even realize he’d been keeping to himself. Well, it was damn cathartic. To have it all out in the open felt like a relief. Even if Liam had his own issues to throw out there. Hell maybe _because_ Liam had his own issues with him. Finally, they were talking. Really talking, not just beating around the apple tree. And that had to be progress, right?

Sure, as the adrenaline from the fight wore off, some of Liam’s barbs sunk in. And boy, did they sting. But at the end of the day, Drake somehow felt that this was better than their stilted half conversations and awkward small talk. At least this was real. And quite frankly, today kind of felt like rock bottom. That meant things could only improve from here. Drake just had to figure out how.


	15. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Riley and Drake deal with the emotional fallout of recent decisions, Liam hears some important information from Olivia.

__

_In… two… three… four… Out… two… three… rest… In… two… three… four… Out… two… three… rest._

Liam focused on his breathing, trying to redirect his emotions. He should have never indulged in such an outburst. Expressing that anger had not been productive, and now he was frazzled and on edge. He _needed_ to focus. Distractions were not acceptable, not at this moment. Olivia had come to see him, stating that her reasons were time sensitive. She required his undivided attention. She deserved it wholeheartedly, as did all the people she represented in Lythikos. 

Glancing over to the side, he took in Olivia, matching him stride for stride. She hadn’t spoken since they had left the lounge, which Liam supposed was a blessing. He didn’t really know how he would answer her questions when they inevitably came, because honestly, he had no idea how he had come to lose it that much, to that degree. He hadn’t gotten mad like that in years, not since the night that Leo told him that he was going to abdicate. He’d been in an emotional turmoil that night, trying to focus on supporting his brother through a difficult decision to walk away from a life that Liam knew was killing him slowly. But even though he knew that abdication was the only real option for Leo, even though he didn’t resent him for making that choice, he still had needed to mourn his relative loss of freedom. That night, Drake had taken him out in the woods, to the middle of a lake, letting him yell and curse and get drunk where no one would know his reaction. He’d been able to cleanse himself of his frustrations and returned, focused on the future and his people. Today, he had raised his voice and said horrible things about that same man in the middle of the palace. There would be no hiding his emotional response this time.

_In… two… three… four… Out… two… three… rest._

He needed to stop dwelling on this right now. His attention was required elsewhere, and if he kept thinking about his fight with Drake, he would never be able to focus on more pressing issues. The fallout there would just have to wait. He opened the door to his office, holding it for Olivia to pass through first, watching as she chose not to sit on the more casual couches, but instead walked towards his desk. Clearly, whatever had brought her to the capital from Lythikos was official business.

Liam settled into his chair, taking one more calming, measured breath before looking Olivia in the eye, perched on the edge of the chair across from him. She appeared wound up and tense, not carrying herself with her usual comfortable intensity, a description that surely would have been an oxymoron for anyone else.

“I assume this is a rather serious manner that has come to your attention, seeing as you came to see me in person, but didn’t mention anything yesterday.”

Olivia frowned before replying, “Liam, do you need to take some time? You seem really… agitated.”

Liam shook his head, exhaling roughly in the process, hoping to release a little more of the tension. “Of course not; you told me this was a time-sensitive matter. I trust you enough as a duchess _and_ a friend to understand that whatever you need to tell me is pressing and important.”

Olivia hesitated for a moment before she spoke, “If you’re sure, Liam…”

“Of course; now what was it you wished to discuss?”

She bit her lip and glanced upward, taking a deep breath before she continued, “I have information regarding the parties behind the attacks.”

Liam swallowed. He didn’t know what she’d come to discuss, but it hadn’t occurred to him that it could be _this_. The serious subject matter, though, did help refocus his thoughts. This truly was of the utmost importance. 

“Alright, what do you know?”

“It’s my aunt.”

“What?”

“My aunt, she’s involved with orchestrating the attacks.”

Millions of thoughts, questions, concerns, and possibilities swirled in a confusing eddy in Liam’s mind. There was so much to unpack here. He was trying to figure out how to best guide Olivia through the discussion, but before he could so much as open his mouth to ask his first of many questions, Olivia herself rattled off more information.

“I’m not sure if she’s the primary orchestrator of the attacks or if she’s part of a larger group. She just revealed her true intentions this morning over breakfast, so I haven’t had a chance to do any digging. She is a major player, though. She made that much explicitly clear.”

“Alright, and I take it you’re willing to testify against her should it come to that?”

Olivia nodded once. “Of course. But please tell me you aren’t thinking of moving on her right this instant.”

This gave Liam pause. His first thought had been to move a police force into Lythikos tonight and to take Lucretia into custody, but hearing her say it aloud made it clear how ill-advised that would be. It was highly possible that Lucretia had co-conspirators, and until they had a firmer understanding of the situation and a stronger case against her, they risked playing their hand too early. 

“No, you’re right. Let me bring in Bastien. He should hear this so we can begin to organize an intelligence unit to provide some surveillance on your aunt.”

Liam moved to collect Bastien from his office, but Olivia raised her hand. “No offense to Bastien or his staff, but I’m much better positioned to gain more information from her. She clearly believes that I’m working to better position House Nevrakis, regardless of the cost to Cordonia as a whole. She trusts me. I need to be the one to do this.”

Liam hadn’t been sure if Olivia had inadvertently overhead her aunt discussing certain sensitive topics, but this confirmed that Lucretia had willingly revealed her true schemes. There was a lot of wisdom to Olivia’s assessment of the situation. She hadn’t shared the details of why Lucretia had confided in her, but regardless, Liam trusted her completely, and if she thought she could parse out more details, he knew she would get it done. 

“Of course you will absolutely play a key role in this situation, Olivia. But we are going to need a targeted approach. Not just-”

“A one woman assassination squad?” she said, tilting her head to the side and giving him a little smirk.

Liam let out a little chuckle, “I’ll defer to your self-description. Let me go fetch Bastien and we’ll get started.”

Liam stood and was making his way to the side door to his office when Olivia called out to him.

“Liam?”

“Yes, Lady Olivia?” he asked as he spun to face her. She was twisted in her chair, head turned over her shoulder, vicious red nails drumming atop the seat back.

“I know now isn’t the time, but if you need someone to talk to about whatever the hell I interrupted there…” she trailed off with a shrug, almost as if she wasn’t sure how to offer personal support.

“I know, Liv,” replied Liam with a gentle nod, “later. That will all come later.”

* * *

Riley checked the time on her phone as she waited to catch a train back into Manhattan. It was only 9 pm, a measly six and a half hours since she left Cordonia, flown for much longer than that, and left him behind. Time zone changes always messed with her brain, at least a little. It shouldn’t be possible for so much to happen in so little time.

She sent a text to Daniel, letting him know she was back and that she could come pick up Anderson just as the train pulled up in front of her. She knew who she should text next - Drake. She had promised him that she would let him know when she got back to New York. But she was dreading it. Truth be told, this was kind of uncharted territory for her. She couldn’t remember a single time where a relationship of hers had survived a shouting, screaming, crying brawl.

But she and Drake were still together after two massive fights. Well, kinda. After their first fight, Riley knew she shouldn’t have shoved Drake’s apologies to the side. But she hadn’t known how else to process that fight, and Constantine’s death had served as a convenient excuse to not deal with all the baggage they’d unpacked during their bitter screaming match in her apartment. But not dealing with it at all just meant that everything was even messier and more unresolved when they fought about Drake choosing to stay in Cordonia. They hadn’t broken up with that fight, but it didn’t exactly seem like they were standing on steady ground either. And Riley didn’t exactly know how to navigate that. 

So, as she rode the train from Queens back into Manhattan, she stared at her message thread with Drake, wondering what to say to him. She owed him at least telling him she was home and safe, even though some part of her feared that he wouldn’t even notice if she didn’t. He had chosen Liam over her, after all. She clearly wasn’t that important to him.

He had told her he loved her, though, when they were parting at the airport. She hadn’t been able to say the words back. Even now, she couldn’t bring herself to type them in a text. It wasn’t that she didn’t love him, or that their fights had changed how she felt about him. She just needed to start protecting her heart a little more than she had with him in months. She’d gotten sloppy, let her guard down. She’d been so careful, all the way through Liam’s coronation ball. But then, just a handful of weeks later, Drake had confessed that he’d chased after her when she was dragged out, told her he tried to make plans to follow her to New York, and all her life experiences that had taught her to keep her guard up and look out for herself had just crumbled. She fell _hard_. She should have known it would all come back and bite her in the ass. 

Because now she cared, and that meant it hurt. She’d spent so many years shielding herself from this sort of pain. And now, she was expected to face this heartache head on. It was too much. How could she send him a text, pretending like everything was fine? All her instincts were telling her to run, to move forward and not look back. It was the only way to keep her emotions safe, her _heart_ safe. How was she supposed to move on if she stayed in touch with him?

She should have just ended things before she left Cordonia. That would have been easier than dragging out whatever the hell was going on between them at this point. But she hadn’t been able to, she straight up didn’t want to. She was mad in love with him, and how do you break up with someone you love?

God, when did her life get to be such a mess? Maybe she should have never agreed to go to Cordonia. Her life had been simple before she hopped on that plane with Maxwell. Of course, thinking of Maxwell reminded her that she should probably let him and Hana know that she was safely back in New York and that Drake was not. She didn’t want to deal with their questions either. If only there was a way to tell them without having to respond.

The answer hit her like a brick wall. How could she have been so stupid? She blamed the jet lag for not realizing earlier that the time difference would work to her advantage here. If she texted everyone now, they wouldn’t see her message for hours. It was perfect. She could let any responses sit unread until she was ready to deal with them, whenever that might be.

Maybe this was a cowardly way of dealing with things, but whatever. She was the one alone in New York. If Drake wanted to be in closer contact with her, well he knew how to make that happen. So she shot off texts to Drake, Maxwell, and Hana, then shoved her phone in her bag and ignored it for the rest of the ride. Then, after a short walk to Daniel’s, she and Anderson walked the 17 blocks home.

It was strange being back. Honestly, even when it was her and Drake a couple of weeks ago, it felt weird as fuck. Being back in this space after her life had changed so much, it just had felt a little off. But Riley was the master of adapting, so she’d ignored it, throwing herself wholeheartedly into rebuilding a life. But to be here alone, after traveling the world, finding closer friends than she’d ever had before, and falling in love-

No she needed to stop that line of thought. She was alone again. She’d been there before. She knew what she needed to do, and that was to keep moving forward. She couldn’t dwell on the past. It was time to purge her life of the reminders of things that could-have-been.

Normally, her first step would be to throw out everything that was his and anything of hers that reminded her too much of him. But, if Drake were to come back, like he promised her he would, having pitched all his stuff probably wouldn’t go over well. So, Riley decided to fill a box and shove it somewhere in her closet. No visible reminders of him that way, at least. Not knowing what size box she’d need to pilfer from the bodega recycling dumpster, she decided to pile all his shit on the desk. Anderson was her faithful companion, trotting along with her as she flung open all the cupboards, rifled through the drawers, and searched the apartment pretty thoroughly for items that were Drake’s. But after a good twenty minutes of scouring, she was shocked to see so few items on the table. Just bottle of generic shampoo with the scent “Mountain Fresh” and a bar of plain soap were truly Drake’s.

There were a few more items she’d weeded out because they would remind her of him too much. The bottle of whiskey. The bag of marshmallows, though those she should probably just dump in the trash because she was pretty sure she’d bought those before she left for Cordonia… the first time. A couple of her dresses she wore in Cordonia got tossed onto the table. The condoms ended up in the pile, too. Lord knows she wouldn’t be getting laid in the foreseeable future.

Was this really everything in the apartment that was not only Drake’s, but that even _reminded_ her of him? That didn’t seem right. But another pass through the apartment didn’t find anything else that Riley wanted to hide away. The realization that Drake had basically left no physical presence in her apartment hit her with an unexpected wave of anger. Of course there was nothing left. He’d never bothered to unpack, never attempted to settle in and find his place, never took steps to make New York his home. He had been ready to leave at a moment’s notice the second anyone from Cordonia had needed him. Why would anything have been left behind when he’d been living out of a suitcase?

The frustration she felt caught her off guard. This wasn’t how she usually worked through rejection and abandonment. She’d been through it too many times in her life, not just from boyfriends, but from foster parents, her mother’s parents, and even her own father. Her mom too, in the more general sense of things, as she had always chosen her next high over being there. A guy choosing to be somewhere else rather than with her? Well that was par for the course, barely worth getting worked up over.

Except for she actually loved this guy. She’d worked so hard to not fall in love for years and years, because she’d known this would be the result. In the end, it was always just going to be her. Alone. And she could handle that. She’d dumped and been dumped. She’d been through breakups before. Unfortunately, this wasn’t actually a breakup, so her coping mechanisms were not gonna fly here. Because if this had been a true breakup, she would have been hitting up the bars and nightclubs. The best way to get over someone is to get under someone new, after all. But obviously, a handful of flings was not even close to an option at this point. Because this wasn’t a breakup, no matter how much it felt like things were heading that way. So Riley was left alone with her own negative emotions, something she’d actively tried to avoid for at least the past decade, probably longer.

She sank against the wall next to her fridge, trying to stop the wave of sadness and loneliness that was washing over her, but it was no use. It just hurt too damn much. This was why she had kept things casual and light with everyone she met. When she let people in, she always ended up alone.

Anderson trotted over as tears started to trickle down her cheeks, his eyes so wide, Riley had to wonder if he actually was processing how devastated she was. It certainly felt like it, and maybe that would be enough for tonight. She didn’t really have any other options, after all.

* * *

Sunlight was already peeking through the gaps in the blinds when Drake awoke to a loud buzzing sound. His phone must be vibrating, but some quick fumbling around his nightstands didn’t produce it. He groaned, pulling a pillow over his head. Who the fuck was looking for him? No one had any reason to talk to him.

After his fight with Liam, he’d taken a bit to calm down. He’d stayed in the lounge, poured himself another whiskey, smoked a couple more cigarettes. When he finally felt like he had a better grip on his emotions, maybe an hour later, he’d wandered towards Liam’s office, thinking that whatever Olivia had just had to discuss with him was probably resolved. But as he turned the corner into the hallways leading to Liam’s office and the security offices, he’d been floored by the amount of activity. Agents were bustling from room to room, reviewing info on tablets, talking into their headsets, carrying stacks of paper. Clearly, something major had been going on.

So Drake had left, dragging himself back to his quarters, leaving Liam to focus on whatever was going on, something that was clearly more important than whatever had happened between the two of them. Certainly more important than Drake himself. And so he’d sat there, stewing in the aftermath of the past 24 hours, starting with deciding to stay in Cordonia and ending with him yelling at Liam. All bookending the extreme guilt he felt over how he handled things with Riley. He’d felt like a total piece of shit.

So, he’d drank. A lot. After all, any feeling out there had to be better. In his younger, stupider years, he’d done his drinking to numb and forget at a variety of dive bars. But that had always meant that Bastien had to come out and drag his sorry ass home. At least Drake had had the sense to not burden Bastien with that task last night, instead working his way through a sizeable amount of his whiskey collection. His memories of the night became fuzzier after a certain point, but he seemed to remember a text coming through in the middle of the night, waking him up on his couch and prompting him to stumble to his bed where he’d passed out, still fully dressed.

He hadn’t been hungover like this in a long time. His head was killing him, the sunlight and his vibrating phone only adding to his agony. Oh well. It was his own damn fault. All of it was, really.

Drake felt himself dozing off again, but before he could fall back asleep a wave of nausea bolted him out of bed and into his bathroom. After his stomach was done punishing him even more for his behavior and stupidity, he brushed his teeth and slowly walked back to bed. He collapsed onto his pillow and drifted off into an incredibly restless sleep, constantly interrupted by further episodes of nausea and his phone vibrating somewhere on a hard surface. He had no idea how long he dozed for, waking up at least a half dozen times before a loud banging on his door woke him fully.

“DRAKE WALKER, I’M SURE YOU’RE IN THERE! OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW OR I SWEAR I’LL-”

Drake flung the door open, “Hana, for the love of all that is holy, can you please drop the volume?”

But Hana was clearly on a mission, ducking around Drake and striding into his quarters with a purpose. “I’ve been trying to get in touch with you all morning. You need to explain yourself right this instant!”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“This morning, I awoke to a text message from Riley. Why did you leave her, Drake?”

“I didn’t leave her-”

“She wrote me, and I quote, ‘ _Home safe in NYC. Drake’s still in Cordonia, btw_.’ Since I am sure she would have told me if she broke up with you, the only other option is that you were the one to end things.”

Drake sighed. “We aren’t-” but Hana cut him off, continuing her tirade after taking a deep breath.

“I was well aware that something was happening between you two for _months_ and I kept quiet, even though I wasn’t sure what your plan was when it came to letting down Liam, because I was sure you were in love with her, and I figured that meant that you were also looking out for her best interests. And then you two disclosed your relationship and I was happy for you, even if that meant an ocean between me and my best friend, because _again_ , I was sure you were looking to do right by her.”

“Hana, look. There’s a lot going on here that you don’t know about and this really isn’t your business-”

“Don’t play that card, Drake Walker,” she interrupted, her voice inching louder and louder once again. “I certainly am invested in this relationship. I covered for you two when you were both openly ogling each other at the barn raising. I distracted the others when we were camping and Maxwell was _this_ close to hearing the two of you together in one tent after everyone went to bed. I gave you a moment when I noticed her kissing you at the market in Shanghai. But most importantly I love her, and if you think that I’m going to stand here and not call you out for jerking my best friend around, well then, you have another thing coming.”

Drake sighed, his sluggish, hungover brain trying to process her rant. “Hana, can we do this another time? My head is killing me.”

“Serves you right for drinking enough whiskey to kill most humans. Your hangover is not my problem.”

Drake hadn’t told Hana he was hungover, but he supposed his general appearance and ignoring all sorts of calls kind of made that fact obvious. He sank onto the couch, running a hand over his face. “Did it ever occur to you that I got completely shitfaced because of how guilty I feel about her being back in New York without me?”

Hana stared at him for a brief moment before delicately sitting on the other end of his couch. “If you feel so guilty about it, why did you breakup with her?”

“We aren’t broken up, Hana.”

“Oh. But then why-”

“Liam needs me. Or at least he needed me. I fucked that up, too.” he groaned as he dropped his head.

Hana was silent for several moments, maybe waiting for Drake to keep talking, maybe just trying to formulate the best response in her mind. Drake wasn’t sure, but now that Hana wasn’t yelling at him, he actually did feel compelled to explain himself to her.

“Look, I’ve known Liam for almost my entire life, and I know when he’s not coping. The signs are pretty subtle, but they were _all_ there. So while I want nothing more than to be there for Liu, I have to help Liam through everything that’s happened with the attacks first. He’s like family to me. He’s my best friend, and right now he needs me. At least I think he does. So yeah, this is just something I have to do. Because it’s what you do for your best friend.”

He chanced a glance up at Hana. She wasn’t looking at him at all, but was instead smoothing out imaginary wrinkles in the skirt of her dress. All the fire seemed to have been zapped out of her as she lightly bit her lower lip and futzed with her clothing. Three minutes ago she’d been a ball of fury, but now she just looked uncomfortable, and Drake had no idea if that was because of her outburst or just from being in his quarters in general. Given her upbringing, he wasn’t sure how often Hana had spent time alone with a man in his bedroom. Plus, of everyone in their little group that had formed during the social season and engagement tour, he and Hana were probably the least close. They certainly never hung out together one on one.

“I should go take care of some things,” said Hana, interrupting Drake’s thoughts. She stood up, smoothing out her dress one last time. 

“Oh, okay.”

“Sorry for intruding into your private quarters. I was just…”

“Pissed at me?”

“I was going to say ‘upset,’ but your description is fairly apt,” she said, blushing faintly.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve been there.”

“You have?”

“Well, maybe not the barging in without regard for privacy thing, but the losing my cool part? Hell yeah. I get it.”

She gave him a small smile, “Are you okay? I suppose I could actually be a good friend and ask seeing as I’ve been unquestionably rude today.”

Drake shrugged, “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine in the end.”

“Riley seemed pretty closed off with that text.”

All Drake could do was sigh as he rubbed his neck, “Yeah, well…” He didn’t know what else to say. He knew he’d broken things there, and Hana had picked up on that with one text. But like he’d told her, like he’d told Riley, he felt he had to stay back for Liam.

The silence hung in the room for a few brief seconds before Hana stepped over to him and hunched over, wrapping her arms around him.

“Hana, I’m all sorts of gross right now. You don’t have to-” but she just hugged him tighter at that, so Drake just loosely wrapped his arms around her waist.

“You’re a good friend, Drake.”

“I used to be.”

She pulled back at that, lightly shaking her head. “No, you still are. Falling in love doesn’t make you a bad friend. I refuse to believe that.”

“Yelling at him yesterday might, though.”

Hana sat back down on the couch at that, much closer to him than she had been previously. “One mistake doesn’t make someone a bad friend. Not after years and years of support, at the very least.”

Drake didn’t feel worthy of this kindness, not after he’d fucked everything up with Riley and with Liam. But Hana placed a tiny, delicate hand on his shoulder, rubbing gently. “You two are stronger than you think,” she added before standing up and leaving his quarters, gently shutting the door behind her. A few moments after she left, Drake realized he had no idea who she meant - him and Liam or him and Riley.


	16. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A much needed conversation, part two.

It was pitch black out when Drake awoke to a faint tapping sound. He checked his phone. It was 3:26. He figured he must have imagined the noise and rolled over, trying to go back to sleep, but the noise returned. It was a knock on his door - light, but insistent. Drake was tempted to ignore it, but deep down, he knew who it was. So he shuffled over, flipped the lock, and cracked open the door. 

“You know it’s 3:30 in the morning, right?”

Liam nodded. “I apologize. I couldn’t sleep and I thought maybe… But you’re right, it was rude of me to come by at this hour. I’ll just-”

Drake cut him off with a groan, swinging the door open fully and gesturing for Liam to enter. “No, come on in.”

But Liam didn’t enter, instead pausing in the doorway for a moment before he spoke, “Actually, I was hoping you might want to go fishing.”

Drake blinked a couple of times, trying to clear the fog of sleep from his mind. They hadn’t gone out, just the two of them, in a _long_ time. And given their most recent… conversation, it seemed like an odd choice. But Drake had stuck around to support Liam, so if he needed to go out fishing in the middle of the night, well then Drake would be going with him. “Yeah, okay. Just gimme ten minutes.”

So Drake brushed his teeth and got dressed, grabbing the fishing rods, the lawn chairs, and the tackle box before making his way down to the private garage. It was just Liam there when he arrived, so either Bastien had cleared a private outing, or Liam was ducking out without his security team knowing. It didn’t matter much to Drake either way. He just loaded their gear into the back of his car and moved to hop into the driver’s seat, but Liam called out, “Actually, do you mind if I drive?” Drake shrugged and walked around, sliding in on the passenger’s side and settling in for the short drive to their usual spot. Except instead of turning right after passing through the palace gates, Liam turned to the left.

“Uh, where are you going?”

Liam glanced over at Drake before returning his eyes to the road ahead of him, “There’s a different lake I want to visit. I hope you can forgive me this break from our typical routine.”

Once again, Drake found himself shrugging. Not knowing how long of a trip they’d be taking, he leaned his head against the side window. It was dark enough out that he couldn’t see much of the scenery, but he knew they were basically heading east. They drove for well over an hour, not talking, just listening to Liam’s classical music playlist, the one he used when he needed to think. Drake didn’t know what was going on, so he let Liam drive on without any questions about _where_ or _how_ or _why_. They just drove and drove, and eventually, tinges of orange and pink started to appear in the sky. As the sun began to peek above the horizon, Liam turned off the main road onto a smaller frontage road. After about five more minutes, he pulled over to the side and stopped.

“We’re here,” was all he said before he got out of the car and went to grab his half of the gear from the back. Drake followed his lead, carrying his rod, chair, and the tackle box down a gravel path, Liam just a few paces ahead of him. It was a short and easy hike, leading to a large, crystal-clear lake. The area Liam had chosen was basically a meadow, but there were thickly forested patches along the shoreline, giving rise to large hills and mountains just beyond. Across the lake, Drake noted a grand estate.

He had no idea why they were here and not at their usual lake just west of the capital, but Liam had already set up his chair and was threading his line through the guides. So Drake placed his own chair next to Liam’s, opened the tackle box in between them, and started prepping his own line. Soon enough, they were casting out, the sky lightening in color by the second as the sun continued to climb upwards. They were both silent at first, but after several minutes, Liam broke the ice.

“So, Olivia’s aunt is behind the attacks.”

Drake whipped his head over to the left, trying to gauge Liam’s mental state. That must have been why Olivia came to the palace two days ago. It certainly explained the surge of activity triggered by her visit. Liam didn’t make eye contact with Drake, choosing instead to stare out over the water as he continued to fill him in on the situation.

“She wore a wire yesterday, securing recordings of her aunt talking about the whole thing. Lucretia’s initial plan was to kill any degree of public approval I had before I abdicated, leaving Olivia poised to take the throne. Olivia somehow managed to convince her that we were sleeping together and to give her more time so that she could eventually get pregnant and a Nevrakis would become the heir to the throne.”

“Wait, her aunt thought you two were sleeping together?”

“Olivia didn’t disclose how that even became a point of conversation with her aunt, but Lucretia brought it up unprompted very early on in Olivia’s surveillance, so it must have been part of her ploy to get the initial confession out of Lucretia. Regardless, it was effective. While Olivia was informing me of her aunt’s aims, Lucretia was scrambling to strike deals with her co-conspirators since they were no longer a necessary part of her scheme.”

“How’d that work out for her?” 

“About as well as you would expect. Turns out people who are willing to destroy and kill to gain power don’t respond kindly to being cut out of a coup. Lucretia started naming them all without Olivia even asking because she was planning on having the two of them take out the other key agents in the attacks, all of whom were looking to kill Lucretia at the first opportunity after she dismissed them from her plan.”

“Ah, classic Nevrakis family bonding.”

“Heh. Olivia made a similar remark. Regardless, the strike teams will deploy today to bring the parties involved into custody. Hopefully, things will be well coordinated enough that no one will be forewarned and able to flee. One other insurgent in particular is someone we absolutely need to arrest. His name is Anton Severus, and he and Lucretia seem to be the ringleaders.”

“I’ve never heard of him.”

“We hadn’t either. Initial research turned up some… strange connections to Olivia that we’ll need to investigate further. However, this photo was even more interesting.”

At that, Liam grabbed a small piece of paper out of his jacket pocket and passed it over to Drake. He nearly dropped his fishing rod when he saw the face on the paper.

“It’s that Justin prick!”

“Indeed. Seems he was working under an alias.”

“What the _fuck_ , Liam? He was Liu’s press secretary. He spent a shit-ton of time with her one-on-one. He could have-”

“Drake, this _whole_ situation is a disaster. If you have concerns about the vetting that went into hiring this man, I suggest you take it up with Bertrand. There is something else I thought it prudent you know regarding him, though. He arguably stood to gain the most from the initial scheme concocted by him and Lucretia. Understandably, it sounds like he is the most upset by her recent change in strategy.

“From the way Lucretia talks about him, not only is he highly dangerous, but he also has access to key information Lucretia has been collecting. This includes the findings obtained by the PI that was following you in New York. Apparently, the goal there was a titillating piece surrounding you, me, and Riley. Unfortunately, we think it is highly probable that he will have leaked the information obtained thus far to the press given Lucretia’s description of her conversation with him. So I apologize, but it is likely you and Riley will gain some media attention.”

“So will you.”

Liam shrugged at that, “Yes, well, that comes with the job description for me. That’s not exactly the situation for the two of you.”

“Was warning me about this why you brought me out here?”

“No, that was something I obviously needed to do, but that’s not why I wanted us to go fishing.”

“Why, then? Why today?”

“It’s all just been… It’s been hard to handle all the…” Liam trailed off. Drake couldn’t remember the last time he was at a loss for words.

“Yeah, you’ve had a lot of shit to deal with.” 

Liam chuckled. “I think that safely qualifies as an understatement.”

Drake smiled softly, letting the quiet of the surrounding nature keep the moment still and peaceful. When Liam got like this, it was best not to ask a lot of questions. just let him talk when he felt like it. So they sat there, lines dipping below the surface of the water. The fish weren’t biting, but that didn’t really matter at all. They were both silent for many minutes, but eventually Liam started talking.

“My mind is just so full all the time. As soon as I think I have a handle on one topic or issue, another one just worms its way deep into my brain. Being out here, it’s nearly like all those conflicting ideas can just float away from me. For the first time in weeks, I feel like I can breathe, that I can decompress even slightly. I know that I can’t escape the realities of my life forever, but this is a nice reprieve. So thank you, Drake. Thank you for indulging me, even if I did wake you before 4 o’clock.”

Drake nodded, “Of course, Liam. you know I’d do…”

Liam’s eyes drifted over to Drake’s as Drake trailed off. He wasn’t sure if he had the right to finish that thought. A few months ago, there was _literally_ nothing that Drake wouldn’t have done for Liam. He couldn’t imagine a single thing. But now, after everything with Riley… Well, saying something like that seemed pretty fucking disingenuous.

But Liam just shook his head sadly, “Even after I said horrible things to you the other day.”

Drake frowned at that, “Liam, I deserved nearly all of it. I should be the one apologizing. You have a shit-ton of crap to handle everyday, and my pissy attitude should not have to be part of it.” He kept his eyes focused on the water, ashamed that he couldn’t even figure out how to be the first one to apologize. But Liam chuckled lightly, seeming to be oblivious to Drake’s pain and guilt.

“Drake, since _when_ are you worried about your attitude around me?” 

He let out a sigh before he responded, “Pretty much whenever I can tell you’re stressed.”

“But that shouldn’t be how this works,” said Liam, “We are supposed to be equals, my title be damned. That can’t happen if you are tiptoeing around me when my life becomes stressful.”

“See, I knew you would see it this way. But you’ve gotta understand that the shit you face is so much worse than the shit any of the rest of us face. I gotta be more careful with you than you are with me. Besides, you look out for me, too. You gave me a place to stay, you let me duck out and do my own thing when I get antsy, you find me lots of high quality whiskey.”

“Are you kidding me, Drake?”

He smiled at that, glancing over at Liam, “Just a little. My point is that we both have been there for each other.”

Liam shook his head. “But don’t you see, Drake, that everything you just listed didn’t really impact my life in any major way. Doing those things for you required very little sacrifice. You, on the other hand, just aggressively reminded my brother that you have uprooted your entire life for me. You put long-term plans on hold to be there for me.”

“You were a prince, Liam. Now you’re the fucking king. You made the best accommodations you could for me given the situation. I did the same. It’s no one’s fault that your life doesn’t allow you the flexibility that mine does.”

“Be that as it may, I worry I’ve taken you for granted, that I’ve treated your support as a given. You altered major life plans for me. That shouldn’t be taken lightly.”

Drake waved his hand through the air, almost as if he could swat away Liam’s concerns, “Trust me, it’s really not a big deal.”

“Your screaming match with Leo would suggest otherwise.”

“Eh, Leo was just being an ass and things got outta hand.”

Drake dropped his eyes to the lake’s surface, watching his line cut through the water. He could feel Liam’s stare on the back of his neck, but he didn’t want to acknowledge it. Maybe, if he just sat there quietly, Liam would let it go. Accept his statement as the truth.

“So this is what you meant about keeping your attitude from me when you think I’m too stressed to handle it.”

Drake sighed slowly, rolling his head around to look at Liam. He didn’t know what to say, but his silence kind of confirmed Liam’s statement.

“I don’t need you to turn yourself into an emotional martyr for me, Drake. I would never want that for you.”

“That’s not what this is, I just-”

“Drake, I think you do it without even thinking about it. It’s become nearly reflexive for you. Remember at my coronation, after Riley was forcibly removed from the palace?”

Drake nodded. While the overall events of that night were burned into his brain, he honestly didn’t remember the details all that well. He’d been a mess. Chasing after Riley. Thinking he’d fly out to New York. He’d gone from being convinced that she was going to be this gnawing presence in his life, happily engaged to Liam and _just_ out of reach, taunting him as the possibility that was never meant to be, to being terrified she would not even be a small part of his life anymore. It was in that moment that he decided if he ever saw her again, he would be grateful to fill whatever role she wanted for him in her life, even if that meant opening himself up to excruciating pain in the end. “Yeah, that one was pretty hard to forget.”

“As soon as I got visibly upset, you jumped into action, planning and organizing. You even told me you would go to New York, and I just assumed that you were doing that for my sake. But that wasn’t your primary motivation, was it?”

Drake closed his eyes and shook his head, “I needed to make sure she was okay. I just wanted to be there for her.”

“You loved her already, didn’t you?”

Liam’s question gave Drake pause. He’d never really bothered to think about when he’d fallen for Riley. It was just one of those things, where one day it had just hit him out of nowhere that he was completely gone on her. They’d been eating breakfast with Hana and Maxwell at Applewood the day after finding the photographer’s ID badge. She’d been giving him shit in response to some comments he’d made about mimosas and after a few moments of bickering, she’d stuck her tongue out at him, as if that would win her the argument. It had just been so stupidly silly, so damn playful, so completely _her_ that he’d just known. And that had been it. He’d never really bothered to try and figure out when he actually fell in love, at least not until this moment.

“I think so,” he finally spoke, barely getting the words out. It felt so shameful, to admit out loud that he was in love with Riley. That he’d been in love with her for a long time at this point. It was stupid to get hung up on this. He’d moved to a new country for her. _Of course_ Liam knew he loved her. But to explicitly state it felt wrong. Dirty. Cruel.

The silence of the surrounding nature felt unbearable. But after a painful minute or two, Liam finally responded to Drake’s confession.

“I wish you would have told me how you were feeling. I wish _both_ of you would have told me, but I really wish _you_ would have told me.”

“Liam, I-”

“Let me rephrase that. You _should_ have told me. The rejection would have never been pleasant, but I would have handled it. Romantic feelings go unrequited all the time. But you lied to me, if not outright, then certainly by omission. And that, Drake, is the aspect of this whole mess that I am struggling with the most. I always trusted you to be the one person in this world who was honest with me, to never have an ulterior motive during our discussions. And I’ve lost that faith, Drake. _That_ is what hurts the most.”

“I know, Liam. I’m so sorry.”

“See, this is why you can’t just decide that you need to hide your actual emotions from me. Regardless of whether or not my royal obligations are intense, there needs to be mutual honesty between us.”

Drake shook his head roughly, “It wasn’t all about protecting you. That was part of it, sure, but it was more complicated than just that. I wasn’t exactly trying to be noble.”

“Why then?”

“I don’t want to make excuses here, Liam. I know I fucked up.”

“I just need to understand, Drake. I need to make sense of all of this. So please, just talk to me openly.”

Drake took a breath, trying to organize his thoughts before he started, “It was self-preservation really, and I know that’s selfish of me, but it’s the truth. It was going to be bad enough in the end when she chose you. That alone was going to hurt like hell. I just couldn’t stand the thought of you knowing about it.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“I was convinced that she was going to choose you once she cleared her name.”

“Is there some reason you thought that, or…”

“Previous experience mostly. It’s not important, though.”

“It kind of is, Drake. You are talking about this like it was some foregone conclusion that she wasn’t as interested in you as she was in me, when all I have is evidence to the contrary.”

Drake let out a huge sigh, his shoulders sagging in the process. He wasn’t sure if this topic was wildly embarrassing or just uncomfortable, but they were here now, and Drake didn’t see a way out of it at this point. “Over the years, there have been quite a few women who’ve tried to use me to get close to you. Some just feigned interest until you guys were introduced. Others seemed to have researched me and my interests pretty extensively, letting things escalate between us for quite a while before they suddenly didn’t have time for me. Usually, that was right after they met you. It didn’t take long for me to learn the drill.”

“And you thought Riley was doing the same thing? Drake, she hadn’t even heard of Cordonia when we wandered into that bar.”

Drake mustered up what was left of his courage before continuing, “I think she would have accepted your proposal that night. We snuck outside for a bit. Talked a little. We kissed. I don’t know. We both made it pretty clear that was it for us. It felt a lot like goodbye.

“Then after you got engaged and she came back, I don’t know. Things were different. She kept bringing up us actually being together. It was a strange shift, and part of me just couldn’t believe that she _really_ wanted to be with me. I kept wondering if she was just looking for comfort after being publicly rejected and I was the best option. So I kept telling her we should wait until she cleared her name to talk about our future. And I braced myself for the day that would happen and she would realize she could have you again. That she could go off and be with who she actually wanted.”

“You told me about your relationship the day after she cleared her name.” Liam’s voice was quiet, but calm. Understanding. Gentle.

“I know it’s not an excuse, Liam. But I just didn’t really think that she had any deep feelings for me until she told me she loved me that night. Some part of me couldn’t shake the thought that whatever the hell was going on between us was about to come to an end.”

“But it didn’t.”

“No. It didn’t.”

They both sat there, still and silent. It was tense, to be sure, but unlike the other day, Drake didn’t sense any anger rolling off Liam. He knew he was much calmer, too. Maybe they had just needed to purge their more toxic thoughts before they could have this conversation. Or maybe it needed to happen outside of the confining, binding walls of the palace. Out away from pressures and obligations, away from nosy servants and nobles. Maybe that was why Liam had wanted to go fishing. Maybe deep down he knew this was the only way either of them would talk. But that didn’t explain his choice of location.

“Why here?”

“What was that?”

“I am just trying to figure out why you wanted to come out here to… wherever the hell we are to have this conversation.”

“Valtoria. That’s where I brought us.”

“Okay, so why Valtoria?”

Liam sighed, looking around and fully taking in the surrounding woods and meadows. He was silent, with only the lapping water and the hum of last of that year’s cicadas filling the air. Eventually after several painfully long moments he answered.

“You know how Valtoria has been vacant for decades? Well, it was going to be hers.”

“What are you talking about, Liam?”

“I was going to offer her the title of Duchess of Valtoria.” He kept looking around, almost as if making eye contact would be unbearable.

Drake’s mind raced as he tried to figure out what the hell he was talking about. It only took a few seconds for him to realize the truth behind it all. “You couldn’t marry a commoner. You had to make her fucking suitable match.”

Liam winced at that, finally turning his head to face Drake. “I was trying to give her a home. I wanted Cordonia to feel like her country, not _my_ country. But yes, Drake. I was also looking to appease her critics on the council. Titling her was a needed formality.” 

Drake let Liam’s words wash over him. He knew that Liam himself didn’t really care that Riley came from poverty, had clawed her way to a working class lifestyle. But somehow, the fact that he would have elevated her to noble class before marrying her rubbed him the wrong way just the same. His discomfort at the idea must have shown on his face, because Liam spoke again after a brief moment.

“Come on, Drake. I know it’s your reflex to hate the nobility, but surely that wouldn’t apply to her?”

Drake shook his head. “It’s not that.”

“Then what is it? Why would the mere formality of titling her upset you?”

“That’s not…. It’s just… No one needs to change _anything_ about her.”

A faint smile crept across Liam’s face at Drake’s reply, even as he squinted his eyes in disbelief, “My god, who are you and where have you hidden Drake Walker?”

“What?”

“That was dangerously close to romantic, my friend. Certainly more saccharine and sweet than anything I have ever said.”

“Bullshit, Liam.”

“Fair enough, but you have to admit that was far more sentimental than you usually act.”

“Jesus, Liam. I’m not saying that to be romantic. I just don’t like the fact that you wanted her to change who she is to marry you.”

“It was _never_ about changing her. It was merely adding a formal title.”

Drake squinted at Liam, trying to figure out how he could be so oblivious, but then it dawned on him. Riley hadn’t let Liam see her as she really was. She’d kept things light and polite. She’d never laid into him. Never opened up to him. She had kept playing at being princess the whole way through.

“Tell me, Liam - how many times have you heard Liu swear?”

After a couple of seconds, Liam said, “My answer is that I can’t recall her _ever_ swearing, but I can guess that is not her typical behavior based on that question.”

“She called me a ‘goddamn motherfucking asshole’ within her first few days here,” Drake responded, shaking his head with a smile, “You may not have asked her to change who she was, but…”

“You’re saying she just felt compelled to act differently around me.”

“I think so.”

Liam was quiet for a few moments, likely thinking about everything that had been said. Eventually, he shook his head, “Well, I think there’s some form of irony buried in this whole situation. Apparently, there have been many women out there who acted differently around you to get to know me. The one woman I actually wanted to get to know was acting differently around me as she fell in love with you.”

“Liam, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, Drake. At least not for that part. I will certainly accept your apology for hiding your feelings from me and prolonging the uncomfortable situation. But the rest of it is just life. I fell for someone, but she fell for someone else. There’s no reason for her not to be with the person she loves if he loves her in return.

“I’m not blameless in this whole mess. You were right; I just assumed she was interested in me. I could blame the entire dynamic of the social season, but that wouldn’t be proper. I am a grown man, and I should have recognized her waning interest in me.”

“No, you were right. We should have talked to you sooner.”

“And I probably shouldn’t have offered up being my mistress without asking about her feelings surrounding my relationship with Madeleine. There is plenty of blame to go around.”

“Excuse me, you _what_?”

“It’s not my proudest moment, Drake, but I was desperate and grasping at straws. Looking back, I certainly could have done better there. However, I am guessing you have some moments you wish you could redo in this whole debacle?”

Drake was still trying to process the fact that Liam had apparently asked Riley to be his side piece, but he knew his overall point was valid. They both had made mistakes here. And maybe it was time to leave those mistakes in the past and start moving forward. So Drake just nodded, a gesture Liam returned with a smile before he looked out over the lake again. The silence between them wasn’t entirely comfortable, but it certainly felt closer to normal than it had in a long time.

* * *

Riley poured the couple at the bar two more IPAs, then quickly glanced around the room, trying to see if there were any other customers who needed another round. Not seeing any obviously empty glasses or anyone trying to flag her down, she started loading up a tray with dirty glassware to bring into the back to get cleaned.

After her breakdown her first night back in New York, she’d resolved to not think about Cordonia, and she honestly felt like she’d done a pretty good job. One of the afternoon bartenders had quit unexpectedly, so she volunteered to pick up some extra shifts, which not only kept her busy and distracted, but also helped her earn some much needed cash.

She gotten some texts from Maxwell and Hana, but she’d kept her responses light and casual. She really was doing fine. She just had to convince them of that fact. If they kept asking her how she was doing, she would fixate on everything that had happened, and the would be the opposite of helpful. She needed to keep moving forward, and then she would be able to move on with her life.

Riley carried the heavy tray into the backroom and loaded up the industrial dishwasher. After washing her hands, she went back out front, but the sight in front of her stopped her dead in her tracks. She knew that hair. She knew that face. But that hair and that face were supposed to be in Cordonia, not scanning the room awkwardly, clearly looking for someone.

“Hana?” she finally called out when she found her voice, “What the hell are you doing here?” 


	17. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Friends are reunited, but Hana’s trip to NYC might not be going as she envisioned it. Meanwhile, investigations continue in Cordonia.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

Riley hadn’t meant her question to sound so harsh, but she was just caught very off guard. Hana was probably the last person she expected to walk into this bar. Well, no. Madeleine would be more unlikely. Tariq would be another one she couldn’t imagine showing up. But there weren’t many people that would be more shocking.

Hana spun to face Riley, letting out a sigh and smiling when she saw her. “Oh good, I _am_ in the right place,” she said before she walked around the end of the bar and over to Riley and gave her a warm, enveloping hug.

Riley blinked several times before she responded, placing her hands gently on Hana’s shoulders. It was all so surreal, like a weird fever dream or something. Hana was supposed to be in Cordonia, not here in New York. 

Eventually, Hana pulled back from her hug, staring at Riley intently. “Riley?”

“Yeah?”

“I asked if you were okay.”

“Oh,” Riley hadn’t heard her question at all, so shocked by this turn of events. “Yeah, I’m fine. What are you doing here?”

Hana frowned slightly, “I wanted to come and see how you were doing.”

Riley shook her head, trying to wrap her head around things. “I need to get back to work. And you shouldn’t be behind the bar.”

“Oh, sorry!” said Hana, stepping away from her and back to the other side of the bar. “I’ll just sit here and wait until the end of your shift.”

Riley sighed. She couldn’t deal with this right now. She needed to stay focused, and Hana’s presence was making that hard. She couldn’t afford a meltdown like she’d had the other night. “I’m working a closing shift, Hana.”

“That’s fine,” she replied, climbing onto the closest stool. “I don’t have anywhere to be until Monday.”

“I work this entire weekend.”

“I suppose that’s the risk of a spontaneous trip,” she said with a smile, “Like I said, my time is entirely free until Monday, so I can work around you and your schedule. I just wanted to see you.”

Riley pinched her eyes shut briefly. She needed Hana to get out of here so that she could collect herself. She might be able to handle seeing her tomorrow, but right now she felt overwhelmed and ambushed. Hana wasn’t supposed to be here. She should be in Cordonia. And Riley could not even begin to process anything about that at the moment.

When she opened her eyes, Hana was staring at her carefully, almost as if she was trying to read Riley’s mind. After a couple of seconds, she said, almost timidly, “Don’t worry about me. Go ahead and do your job. I’ll be here when you get off.”

“I won’t get off until after three in the morning. And with jet lag and the time zone change, I kind of doubt you’ll make it that late.”

“Well, how about I start with a wine list, and we’ll see how I do.”

Out of excuses, Riley passed her their wine list and circled around to check on the patrons scattered around at the booths off to the side. When she came back, she poured Hana her requested glass of Merlot, glancing around. Thankfully, the bar was beginning to fill with people out for Friday after-work drinks, and Riley had plenty of customers to keep her busy. Over the next several hours, she only had to check in on Hana a handful of times. She was just there, on her phone, nursing her glass of wine. Once, Riley caught her brushing off a guy in an ill-fitting suit who was clearly trying to get her number. Sometime after nine though, she noticed Hana yawning deeply. It was about four in the morning Cordonia time, after all.

“Hana,” she said, approaching her after bringing another round of martinis to the group of coworkers getting progressively louder at the far end of the bar, “you need to sleep. Why don’t you go to your hotel and we can meet up for brunch tomorrow?”

Hana nodded, the tiredness evident in her eyes. “I’m trying to stretch my money, so I’m at a more budget friendly option. It’s called the Hampton, I think?”

Riley just shook her head. Of course Hana viewed a lovely, but not extravagant, hotel as “budget friendly.”

“That’s a chain, Hana. Just text me what location you’re at, and I can meet you there in the morning.”

“Okay, I know you aren’t much of a morning person, so should we say 10 o’clock?”

“Can we make it 11? I’ll be here-”

“Until three, yes. Of course, you told me that. Sorry I forgot, and sorry I’m too tired to stay here any longer. Will you be okay getting home?”

Riley swallowed roughly at that. Hana’s simple, polite question triggered a bunch of conflicting emotions. Affection for the best friend she’d probably ever had. Memories of Drake walking her home at the end of basically every shift. Loneliness in general. But she had to keep things in check. She was working. So she simply nodded, took Hana’s cash, and waved goodnight to her. Then she took a deep breath and got back to work.

Thankfully Fridays were typically busy, at least until the last couple of hours before closing. So Riley was able to distract herself with mixing drinks, pouring shots, and collecting glasses until the last 90 minutes or so of her shift. But eventually, things died down as the customers either went home or moved on to other clubs. And that left Riley with a little more time to think than she really wanted.

Hana being here was not something she would have ever considered. She had no idea why she was in New York. But now that she was here, Riley was going to need to make some adjustments to how she was processing all the changes she’d had in her life recently. Her strategy of dividing things into her “New York life” and her “Cordonia life” was not going to work with Hana here in the flesh.

When she was a broken little girl in foster care, she’d shoved people away. Harshly at times. She’d lashed out, said cruel hurtful things, tested everyone’s patience. After all, if you never let someone get close, you never end up hurt. But that existence had been a lonely one, and Riley was extroverted enough that she actually wanted to spend time with people. So, somewhere along the way, she’d learned how to keep everyone at arm’s length while still being friendly. She was everyone’s good time buddy, someone you invited to your birthday party, but no one that you would call when you were going through a breakup or a death in the family. She had become fun and silliness and energy personified. People liked having her around, but they demanded nothing serious from her. It was the perfect set-up. The joy of spending time with others without any pain or vulnerability. Or so Riley had thought for many years.

But things were different when she got to Cordonia. There, starting with Hana and Maxwell, but quickly expanding to include Liam, and then Drake, people just seemed to see her as someone with more depth. Hana had trusted her in a way no one had ever before, and it just set the tone for everything else. Riley had finally understood what true, real friendship felt like. And it was nice - actually caring about someone and feeling cared for in return. So she’d opened up and connected in a way that she hadn’t since she was little, before she realized her mother needed her next hit more than she needed her daughter. 

Since leaving Drake in Cordonia, she’d been trying to separate her experience with all of them from the rest of her life. After all, her relationships there had been wildly different than any other relationships in her life, it all almost felt like a strange dream. But if Hana was coming to intrude on her life here, she was just going to have to keep things casual with Hana. Because otherwise, it was all going to hurt too much when Hana left her go back to Cordonia and she was all alone once again.

Mind made up, Riley worked on closing out the last few customers’ tabs before making her way home. Tomorrow at brunch with Hana, she was just going to have to be good-time Riley. It was the only way to move forward at this point.

* * *

Hana ran a brush through her hair, clipping her fringe back out of her face. She really needed a trim, but she was considering changing up her look. Maxwell had encouraged her to do something bold to her appearance. While her fractured relationship with her parents wasn’t truly a “breakup” in the traditional sense, he’d told her she should do something to commemorate her newfound “freedom.” And, he’d insisted a dramatic new hairstyle was the time-honored traditional way to do it. While Hana wasn’t quite ready to make the dive into dyeing her hair pink just yet, she thought growing out her fringe might be a manageable place to start.

She checked her appearance in the mirror before adding a touch of lip gloss. She thought her outfit was appropriate for brunch with Riley, but she wasn't really sure. Was a midi dress the right choice? Was it too formal? Not formal enough? Normally, she would have called or texted Riley to ask, but last night had not gone as she expected.

She wasn’t sure what she had done wrong, but it was pretty clear that Riley had not been pleased to see her. It was not what she was used to when it came to interacting with her. From the first moment they met in that boutique, Riley had been so kind, so supportive. That first night, she’d even followed her out of the ball when Olivia’s words got to her more than they should have, when she had no reason to pay her the time of day. But yesterday was strange. Riley had barely hugged her and had clearly been trying to get her out of her bar.

With the texts she’d gotten, she’d known that Riley was hurting, but was trying not to show it. All of the texts had been casual, but way too generic for Riley. They were bland, not playful or joyous. When Drake had mentioned that he could identify all of Liam’s cues for not coping, it had struck something inside of Hana. Granted, she hadn’t known Riley for anywhere near as long as Drake and Liam had been friends, but she still felt she understood Riley fairly well. So when Drake had mentioned needing to be there for Liam, it had dawned on Hana that she could do the same thing. She could be there for Riley.

She’d made countless calls, sent numerous emails, and over the course of two days, she’d arranged to move up all her New York meetings she was planning for either January or February to the upcoming week. Then she’d gone to the bank, transferred her trust fund, the one account to which her parents had absolutely no access, to more liquid accounts, and booked flights and a hotel. 

Her plan had been to spend the weekend with Riley, doing whatever she could to cheer her up and show her that even with an ocean between them, she would never be alone. Having the meetings would serve as an excuse if Riley hadn’t wanted to see her, but she hadn’t anticipated actually _needing_ that excuse. She figured Riley would feel better having a close friend near, someone to talk to about whatever was going on with her and Drake in person. But her behavior last night had suggested otherwise.

Hana was doubting the wisdom of showing up in New York unannounced fairly heavily at this point. She debated sending Riley a message and cancelling brunch, but a quick check of the time made it a moot point. Riley was supposed to meet her down in the lobby in less than 15 minutes, and seeing as Hana had no sense of how far away Riley lived or how long it would take her to get to this part of the city, she knew it would be rude to cancel at this point. So she slipped into her jacket and made her way down to the lobby where she sat patiently waiting until Riley arrived. 

“Hey, Hana,” Riley called out as she walked through the automatic doors. She was smiling and seemed happy to see her, a total contrast to how she’d been in the bar. To further emphasize the difference, Riley walked over and threw her arms around her as Hana stood to greet her. It was nearly night and day, the difference in Riley’s behavior.

“So, for brunch, I know a great place, but it’s a bit of a haul from here. How do you feel about public transportation?”

“I’ll defer to your judgement. This is your hometown, after all.”

“Great! Let’s go!” Riley said, spinning around and bounding back towards the doors.

Hana followed her out onto the sidewalk and into the crisp fall air, making sure not to lose her as she wound around people for several blocks before ducking down a flight of stairs to a subway station. As Riley purchased a ticket for Hana at some automated kiosk, Hana tried to search through her mind for topics of conversation that wouldn’t be likely to send Riley back to her awkward mood from the night before. 

It turned out, she had no reason to worry. Riley chatted extensively, about funny customers she had, about the restaurant where they were going, about Anderson’s excitement at meeting another corgi on their walk around the block the other day. She seemed bubbly and chipper, but somehow it all felt off. “ _Maybe,_ ” Hana thought, “ _she was just cantankerous because she was at work last night._ ” Still, Hana felt like everything was just a little strange. 

As they walked into the restaurant and perused the menu, Riley started asking her about what plans she had next week. As Hana explained her meetings with her contacts, her goal to develop a organizational plan and to obtain some funding sources, Riley was certainly listening intently. She asked numerous follow up questions and seemed to show a genuine interest. But Hana couldn’t help but notice that every time she mentioned something about Cordonia, be it Maxwell or the palace or anything, really, Riley would direct the conversation away subtly. It was like she wanted to pretend that she and Hana were just two friends from New York, that their connection didn’t originate in some other place where they both had deep connections. 

It was a very intentional move on Riley’s part, Hana decided after it happened for a third time. It could not be a coincidence that Riley wanted to talk about _anything_ besides Cordonia. Hana wasn’t sure if it was deep denial or just an attempt to prevent conversation from drifting to Drake, but regardless, it didn’t seem entirely healthy. But Hana didn’t want to push Riley. She was here to support her, and if a lighthearted brunch was what she needed, well then that was what Hana would provide. So she told more about her evolving plans and upcoming meetings, hoping that just her presence was at least a little bit helpful. But as she allowed herself to be talked into a shopping outing for proper business clothes, she couldn’t help but wonder if she was taking the appropriate approach. It just didn’t feel right. Because the comfort she was providing could be provided by nearly any casual acquaintance. Hana was going to have to figure out how to provide the comfort of a best friend; it was her new goal.

* * *

Drake leaned against the wall in the corner of the conference room, listening in as the various intelligence agents recounted their summaries of their interrogations to Liam, Bastien, and a few other key members of the King’s Guard. It would have almost felt like old times if Olivia wasn’t standing there as well, skulking right along with him.

“Incompetent pieces of shit,” she muttered under her breath, “If they had just given me five minutes with any of those traitorous assholes, I would have had twice as much information already.”

“Yeah, only because they thought you were in on their plan.”

Olivia twisted her head around to scowl at Drake and used her middle finger to scratch her cheek. Drake figured it was the most subtle she’d been in a spat with him since he’d returned from university.

“This is taking forever,” she whispered as the next agent started recounting his interrogation of a man named Claudius.

“We can’t play all our cards too early in these interrogations. They just start with initial questioning to get every suspect’s baseline statements. That way, there are going to be a shit-ton of discrepancies, not only between what they say and what we know, but also between the different assholes’ statements. It makes ‘em more likely to turn on each other to try and save their own skins.”

Olivia leaned back, bringing herself slightly closer to Drake, presumably to make sure their whispered conversation didn’t draw too much attention to the two of them. They’d both been invited to listen in on how the investigation was progressing. Olivia, presumably because she was instrumental to all the arrests happening. Drake, presumably because Liam would have always done so in the past.

Since their fishing trip, Drake and Liam had fallen a bit into their old pattern. In some ways it felt like normal, like they were returning to a familiar routine. But in other ways, things felt entirely shifted. There was a tension there as both of them fumbled through finding a new normal. There were lots of apologies for little things. Liam being a few minutes late. Drake getting caught rolling his eyes. It was like they both were trying to find a new balance in their friendship and were worried that they were pushing things too far. It was still a work in progress, but at least they were talking again, Liam running through things with Drake at the end of each day like they had done for so long, clearing his mind and enjoying some whiskey. Bouncing ideas off of him, Drake serving as his ever-skeptical sounding board.

“When did you become an expert in terrorism interrogations?” Olivia asked, drawing Drake back to the moment.

“I’ve been sitting in on meetings like this for years, Olivia.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, _really_. What the fuck did you think I was doing with my time?”

“Drinking Liam’s whiskey. Moping around and complaining. Buying more denim. Take your pick.”

Before Drake could snap back, Bastien called for a fifteen minute break. Most of the agents got up, clearly eager to stretch their legs, get some water, or just plain get out of the room they’d all been in for the past 150 minutes. Liam and Bastien called over Stefan, obviously wanting to review some points in the notes he was recording. Drake didn’t feel compelled to move. He’d learned over the years that staying in one spot at these types of meetings often turned him basically invisible. He assumed Olivia would take the opportunity to get away from him, but to his surprise, she stayed leaning against the wall as well, taking the break in the proceedings to talk just a little more freely.

“Given your presence here, I take it you two kissed and made up,” she said, jutting her chin towards Liam. 

Drake rolled his eyes. “Like you even care. You would love it if we stopped talking to each other.”

“That’s not true.”

“Yeah right.”

“Believe it or not, Drake, you don’t have a fucking monopoly on caring about him. I don’t want him to suffer any more than you do. And while I might never understand it, he clearly hates when you two are being fucking idiots and tiptoeing around each other instead of just punching each other and being done with it.”

“How would you even know?”

“Who do you think he talked to when you weren’t here, dipshit?”

Drake paused at that. He had never considered the possibility that Liam might have opened up to Olivia in his absence. And he was shocked that learning that fact filled him not with repulsion, but something more like gratitude.

“Wow. I’m… I’m glad.”

“Don’t strain yourself,” she replied, giving him an exaggerated eye roll.

“Nah, I mean it’s weird to me that it’s _you_ , but I would much rather he has someone who knows him well that he can actually talk to. It’s kind of… well, a relief actually.” Drake turned to fully face Olivia at that, not exactly surprised that she mirrored his motion. She stared him straight in the eyes before giving him a little nod.

“Like I said, you don’t have a monopoly on caring for him.”

“I know.”

Drake just looked at Olivia, feeling like, for the first time in well over a decade, he was seeing traces of the little girl he’d grown up with. And while he knew the two of them would probably never be that close again, he could at least respect that she clearly wanted the best for Liam. Liam the person, not Liam the King. It was probably the one thing they had in common.

“So, when are you heading back to New York?” Olivia asked. Her tone was genuine, no sarcasm or condescension. 

“Eager to get rid of me?” he teased, trying to keep his tone light, preserving whatever little truce they’d just stumbled into.

“Of course,” she said, giving him a genuine smile to let him know she wasn’t trying to offend or insult. It was a rare look on her face. “But seriously, when do head out?”

Drake bit the inside of his cheek, trying to figure out what to say. In all honesty, he wasn’t sure if he was _wanted_ back in New York.

Riley was ignoring him. He had to face the facts on that front. She’d sent him exactly one text since she left Cordonia, letting him know her flight landed safely. Since that time, it had been radio silence. He would have been terrified that something had happened to her if his texts weren’t all getting marked as read.

Of course, he wasn’t sure his texts were _any_ better than the nothing he was getting from her. Granted, he had never been some great texter. Combine that fact with the unsettled way he’d left things with Riley, and it was a recipe for awkward little questions. He’d asked her if Anderson was okay. How her day was. How her shift was. It was fucking small talk, but he didn’t know what else he could send. It’s not like he was gonna pour out his heart in a fucking text. So all he’d been able to do was send meaningless garbage. He figured at the very least, she would know he was thinking of her.

“I’m not sure,” he said, dropping his eyes to the floor. He couldn’t bring himself to say anymore. Hell would freeze over before he opened up to Olivia Nevrakis, regardless if she was Liam’s new confidante.

He could feel Olivia still staring at him, but after a few seconds, she simply said, “Oh, alright. I’m going to go get something to drink.”

As Drake dared glancing up again, he found her already walking towards the door. Letting out a sigh, he realized he was now grateful to Olivia for three things. For bringing in evidence on the attacks. For taking care of Liam. And for giving him relative privacy just then. Because figuring out what he needed to do, what Riley needed from him, was not going to happen in the middle of a security briefing. He just wasn’t sure if he was going to ever be able to figure out that answer. And that thought terrified him to his core.


	18. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drake goes to Ramsford while he figures out his next steps, Leo has something to ask Liam, and Hana is at her wit’s end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m just gonna throw a trigger warning here that there is an interaction in this chapter where a man is clearly looking to engage in sexual activity with a woman who is not able to consent at that time. There is no actual sexual assault or violence, but it’s the type of thing that may hit close to home, so I thought I’d give some warning. It’s in the third and final “section” of this chapter if you wish to avoid it.

“Hello?” Drake called out, glancing around as he stepped into the foyer of the Ramsford estate. He wasn’t surprised that there wasn’t any staff to greet him, given the Beaumont’s current financial situation, but he figured he should announce his presence somehow. Not just lurk around until someone found him. He was pretty sure he was the only person invited for dinner tonight, after all.

He hadn’t really wanted to come for this dinner, but when Savannah had called him, excited that he was still around and inviting him over now that she was settled at Ramsford, he just couldn’t bring himself to say no. He’d seen so little of his sister over the past couple of years, and even before then, he’d always found it hard to tell her “no.” So here he was, hoping that Maxwell and Bertrand had enough whiskey to get him through the evening.

“Drake, is that you?” Maxwell’s voice called out, echoing through the halls as he rounded the corner, “Hey, glad you could make it!”

“Yeah…” Drake trailed off as Maxwell came over. Maxwell was clearly going in for the hug, but thought better of it when he saw the look on Drake’s face. 

“So, yeah. Dinner might be a bit yet. Savannah is cooking but Bertrand has decided to ‘supervise’ as this is ‘their first dinner party’ as a couple or whatever. I wandered through the kitchen about 20 minutes ago, and it was not exactly going great.”

Drake just shook his head, “I hardly qualify as a dinner party.”

“Yeah, well… try telling Bertrand that. Do you want a drink while we wait for whatever the hell we’re gonna get for dinner at some point?”

“What do _you_ think?”

“Right, stupid question. Come on, I’ll get you some whiskey.”

Drake followed Maxwell through the halls to the private lounge and took a seat on one of the couches as Maxwell wandered over to the bar cart and prepared a whiskey on the rocks and a glass of white wine before he joined Drake on the opposite sofa.

“So, has Riley been having a good time with Hana?”

“What?”

“Hana told me they were going to check out Riley’s favorite place for Chinese take out today and that she was going to see how it stacked up to authentic Cantonese cuisine. I was wondering if you’d heard the final verdict.”

“Maxwell, what the hell are you talking about?”

“Hana’s in New York,” said Maxwell, squinting slightly as he took a sip of his wine. “Drake, did you not know that?”

“No, she uhh… didn’t tell me that.” Drake downed his whiskey in one, pushing himself up off the couch and stalking over to the liquor. That information warranted another drink.

Hana was in New York with Riley. Riley couldn’t be bothered to text him, but she was taking Hana out and keeping Maxwell posted about everything they were up to, apparently. It just was him she wanted nothing to do with. 

It was like every other time, and this time, he knew it was his own damn fault that she left him. He’d fucked everything up. He drank his second glass in one swig. He just wanted to go back to his quarters and be alone with his pain, but he could hardly duck out of a family dinner where he was the only guest. Pouring himself one more whiskey, he took a deep breath and rejoined Maxwell. He was gonna have to get through this night somehow.

Maxwell glanced up, tapping his finger on the side of his wine glass as Drake sat down. The silence was tense for a few moments before Maxwell broke it. 

“Drake, I wasn’t trying to pry, I swear. I’m just worried about Riley and I thought maybe-”

Drake jerked his head up and stared at Maxwell, “Why are you worried about Liu?”

Maxwell tensed for a second, “Look, I’m not trying to butt in where it’s not my business or anything-”

“Really? Since when have you had any sense of boundaries?” Drake snapped

“Hey! I’ve given you _plenty_ of space! I get that you and Liam had to work through your… issues, or whatever. But she’s like my sister, and I have a right to be worried about her, too!”

“Yeah, I get it. It’s _all_ my fucking fault. I already feel like shit about it so-”

“ _Oh come on_ , that’s not what I’m saying at all.”

“Then what’s your fucking point?”

Maxwell let out a sigh, “I’m just trying to make sure that _both_ of my friends are doing okay and not isolating themselves and being all lonely and mopey and deciding that it’s better if no one knows that they are actually hurting.”

Drake took a deep breath, “Since when did you get so fucking insightful?”

“My greatest strength is that everyone underestimates me. It let’s me see things,” he said with a shrug.

“Huh,” was all Drake could muster, taking another sip of his whiskey.

“So, if you can promise not to jump down my throat, I’d like to ask how you are.”

Drake grimaced, “I’ll be fine. It just sucks right now because all I can do is wait for the other shoe to drop.”

Maxwell frowned at that. “What do you mean?”

“Well, as you could probably guess from my reaction, Riley’s basically ghosting me. I’m just waiting for the inevitable breakup text.”

“Or, she’s mopey and isolating herself, you know, like I said,” countered Maxwell.

“I don’t know. She won’t talk to me.”

“So go back and talk to her. The people behind the attacks are behind bars and you, Liam, and Olivia all said that things are looking good from that standpoint. You took care of what you needed to here, time to go take care of things with one Riley Liu.”

Drake shook his head, “It’s not that simple, Maxwell. I don’t even know if she _wants_ me there.”

“I never said it would be simple. But you don’t know what’s going through her mind right now, right? So maybe she wants you there with her or maybe she doesn’t. There’s really only one way to find out.”

Drake bit the inside of his cheek, willing himself to keep calm. He couldn’t let Maxwell know that he didn’t know if he could deal with the possibility of face to face rejection from Riley. Not now, after he’d come to think that she might be the one woman who would stay. When Savannah left, it had nearly broken him completely. If he had to watch Riley leave him, too… well, he didn’t know if he could handle it.

“Hey,” called out Maxwell, forcing Drake to divert his attention away from his spiraling thoughts, “for what it’s worth, I don’t think she wants to leave you. But even if she does, wouldn’t it be easier to move forward knowing you did everything you could to try and make things right?”

After a few seconds, after processing the fact that Maxwell could apparently read him like a book, all Drake could say in response was, “Damn, you’re right.”

Maxwell smiled, “I’m fucking insightful, remember?”

Drake laughed at that, raising his glass to clink against Maxwell’s.

After taking a sip of his wine, Maxwell pulled out his phone, “Speaking of being insightful, what do you think the odds are that dinner preparations have completely fallen off the rails?”

“I’m going with about an 80% chance.”

“My thoughts exactly. So shall we preemptively order some pizza?”

Drake smiled and nodded as Maxwell called the restaurant he always used for late night sustenance at Beaumont Bashes. It was strange to think that Maxwell was now a close enough friend that he felt okay about talking with him about anything he was feeling. More than that, he realized that he had misjudged Maxwell a lot over the years. But if the past year had taught him anything, it was that Maxwell had pretty decent awareness when it came to a lot of things. He’d seen the value in Riley before any of them, after all. 

Drake knew he probably should apologize for some things he’d said in the past, both to and about Maxwell, but maybe bringing up his past intolerance of the man was not the best way to go. So instead, he waited until Maxwell finished placing the order and hung up the phone before he got up and walked over to the liquor once again.

“You need a refill, best friend roomie?”

The subsequent shriek of joy was loud enough to bring Savannah and Bertrand running.

* * *

Liam sighed, rubbing his eyes as he scanned through the final reports on all the interrogations. Starting tomorrow, some the initial hearings were happening in public court. Liam had pushed for expedited trials, knowing that the people had been through enough with these attacks and didn’t need the court proceedings to drag at a glacial pace. Of course, this meant he was giving himself less time to develop a firm grasp on the details of the three men whose trials were starting this week for when the press inevitably asked for comments. Still, he knew the prosecutors had it worse, and he was grateful the team of attorneys had agreed with his plan yesterday, even agreeing to meet with Bastien’s agents on a weekend.

He’d slept in his office last night, reviewing the files well past midnight. When he woke up with his head hanging over the arm of his sofa, he’d scurried off to the Monarch’s Quarters, quickly getting freshened up before heading back to his office. He chose his desk this time, hardly able to risk drifting off to sleep again, but it was still hard to stay focused. The reports were full of so many conflicting details, it was hard to keep who said what straight, and he’d been at if for hours at this point. He was about to get up and stretch his legs for a few minutes, but heard a couple of knocks on the door. Before he could call out a greeting, the door swung open, Leo walking straight in and over to the side cupboards.

“Why hello, Leo. Please, _come in_.”

Leo paused to turn to Liam. “Why, thanks brother!” he said in an exaggerated manner, winking as he looked back towards the wall units, “I was thinking of fixing myself a drink; would you like one?” 

Liam glanced at the clock on the wall. “Leo, it’s not even noon,” he chastised, “and you won’t find the whiskey in that cupboard.”

Leo stopped rifling through to cupboard and walked over to Liam’s desk, a wide grin spread across his face. As he plunked himself down in one of the chairs facing Liam, he raised his eyebrows and cocked his head to the side. After a moment, Liam sighed and opened the bottom drawer of his desk, pulling out his Highland Park whiskey and two glasses.

“Keeping it close at hand, nice. I have to say, I like your style. Dad always kept his booze tucked behind the books. Your way is much wiser,” Leo said, accepting the glass from Liam.

“So what brings you by my office? We haven’t seen much of you around the palace the past couple of days.”

“Well, it seemed like things were pretty hectic around here. I thought I would give you some space while you dealt with all the official business. Besides, the casinos worry that something has happened to me if I’m around for more than two days and don’t make an appearance,” he joked. “Anyway, I just came by to let you know I’m flying out tomorrow.”

Liam took a sip of whiskey and nodded. He’d been expecting this since the funeral. He was actually kind of surprised Leo had stuck around Cordonia as long as he had. “Where are you heading this time?”

“I’m spending the next week in Havana, then it’s on to Rio.”

“Of course. Well, you know you’re welcome back anytime. Keep in touch, okay?”

“Yeah…” Leo said, trailing off and looking down at the surface of the desk. It seemed odd to Liam. Usually, when Leo said he was leaving, he appreciated a light-hearted goodbye. Liam figured years of Father attempting to guilt him into staying had taken their toll, so he always tried to show Leo that he understood his need to explore, to go elsewhere. But today, that seemed to bother him, and Liam wasn’t sure why.

“Is something wrong, Leo?”

Leo paused for a moment before he spoke, “You’re doing okay, right?”

“Of course.”

“I mean, you’re okay with the fact that I don’t spend much time in Cordonia, right?”

“Where is this coming from, Leo?”

Leo shook his head, “You don’t have to pretend you didn’t hear what Drake said to me the other day. I know you overhead us.”

Liam nodded slowly. He hadn’t heard everything, but he’d heard enough. And while the fact that Drake had mentioned being torn away from his life had been of more interest to Liam at that time, the fact that Drake had told Leo that he was a bad brother was also something that had stuck in his mind.

“It didn’t seem like the type of statement you’d put much stock in, if I’m being honest.”

Leo tensed at that. “He called me a shitty brother, Liam! _Of course_ it stuck with me! Do you think so little of me that you thought I wouldn’t care about that?”

“Of _course_ not. I just thought that you knew better than to hold Drake’s anger as a source of universal truth, not to mention you never seemed to mind being told you weren’t living up to expectations in this building.”

Leo gave Liam a small smile, “So, you don’t think I’ve been a bad brother to you?”

“No, I don’t feel that way.”

“But Drake was right. I haven’t really been around, I tend to get caught up in my own interests. I definitely have failed you in some ways.”

Liam shook his head, “I don’t expect you to care for me in the same fashion as Drake. He has his way of doing things, you have yours.”

“He called me your drinking buddy.”

Liam chuckled at that, “That’s an interesting perspective. It lacks some nuance, but yes, I suppose you do get me to let go of certain stressors temporarily by encouraging me to indulge in a variety of vices. It’s helpful at times, so I wouldn’t be so dismissive of it.”

Leo just shook his head, “Come on, you don’t need to shield me. If you need to get pissed at me, I get it.”

“Why would I need to get pissed at you?”

“I abdicated, for Christ’s sake! I left you with all the responsibility.”

“And didn’t I encourage you to take that course of action?”

“Yes, but Drake said-”

“Forget what Drake said. His interpretation of our relationship is highly irrelevant, and Drake is going to think what he’s going to think. I am telling you, I do not resent you for abdicating. Being Crown Prince was killing you; you were miserable. I love you, and I want to see you happy. How could I ever hold you taking an action that greatly improved your happiness against you?”

“But I want to see you happy, too.”

“I know you do. I presume that’s why you are very willing to take the full blame for indiscretions conducted by either of us.”

Leo scoffed a little, “Sure, when we were little.”

“And now. I heard Regina had some choice words for you after our night of drinking before the funeral.”

“She said she was amazed that after all this time, I still found a way to be a bad influence on you,” Leo said with a little smile.

“Exactly, and you let her believe that. Leo, you’ve always shown you care about me in your own way. I’ve never felt like you didn’t love me just because we want very different things out of life.”

“Still, the weight of the crown-”

“Is something that I don’t see as a barrier to my long-term happiness. It’s a responsibility, sure, but I am honored that our people trust me as their leader.”

Leo stared at Liam for a few seconds before throwing the whiskey back and finishing his drink. “You’re a good king, you know that right?”

Liam smiled gently, “Thank you, Leo. I appreciate that.”

“And I don’t just mean better than I would have been. You are a good leader. Cordonia is lucky to have you.”

“Thank you. But I think you would have been a better king than you give yourself credit.”

Leo just laughed, “We’ll have to agree to disagree on that point.” He stood to leave and strolled over to the door, but before he opened it, he spun back to face Liam.

“Do you mind if I give you a piece of advice?”

Liam inclined his head, “I would be a bad king if I couldn’t handle friendly advice.”

“Right, well this more personal than professional.”

“If it’s about Madeleine, give your history, that seems like a rather awkward topic-”

“Nah, it’s more general than that. Just… you need to be selfish sometimes. Not often, let’s say once a week. But you need to do something, no matter how small, that’s just for you.”

“Leo…”

“Promise me you’ll at least consider it. Remember, I love you, so that means I like seeing you happy. And I know you well enough that you might forget about your own happiness if things get hectic. So add it to your schedule or something, but remember, once a week, one thing, just for you.” And with that he was out the door.

* * *

Hana felt… well, the only way to describe it was gross. She knew that her plan for the evening was not something that was completely acceptable, morally speaking. But she hadn’t known what else to do.

All weekend, Riley had been completely uninterested in talking about anything of substance. She’d listened to Hana just fine and told plenty of amusing anecdotes. However, anytime Hana asked her how she was doing or if she needed to talk about anything, Riley had just brushed her off, saying she was fine before suddenly remembering a story about a funny customer or something of that sort. It was always lighthearted and superficial. There was never one iota of depth to anything she said. It had been shopping and restaurants and tourist attractions before Riley scurried off to get ready for work both Saturday and Sunday, and Hana was done with it. 

Maybe she wasn’t being fair. Both Saturday and Sunday evenings, when she’d been alone, trying to devise a strategy to encourage Riley to open up, she’d come to the realization that most of the weight that she’d felt in their friendship had come from her opening up, not so much the other way around. While Hana had discussed her distorted dynamic with her parents, her failed engagement and romantic inexperience, and her very lonely and isolated childhood, there was very little Riley had told her. She briefly mentioned that her father was long gone and her mother dead, but it had been Maxwell who told her that her mother had died of a heroin overdose. She wasn’t even sure if Riley had any family beyond that, any aunts, uncles, cousins, or grandparents. And Riley certainly hadn’t confided in Hana about her growing feelings for Drake at any point during the social season or Liam and Madeleine’s engagement tour.

The fact that her friendship with Riley appeared to be fairly lopsided filled her with both pain and guilt. It certainly hurt knowing that the first person in her life she saw as a best friend had probably not felt so connected with her. But more than that, she felt guilty for depending so much on Riley for emotional support and strength without offering anywhere near enough in return. But tonight, that was going to change.

Hana had tried being friendly and open. She’d tried asking gentle questions. She’d point blank asked Riley if she’d heard from Drake while they were at the Guggenheim. But Riley had deflected every single attempt. So tonight, Hana was getting her drunk. She hated thinking of it that way. It sounded so predatory, so malicious. But her intent was merely to use a bit of alcohol to help Riley feel comfortable enough to actually let her guard down and communicate openly. 

Her plan had been simple to execute, at least initially. Riley was off Monday, and given her apparent desire for all things fun and frivolous, it had been very easy to convince her that while in New York, Hana really wanted a little taste of the nightlife. Riley had been thrilled, offering to lend Hana club wear and taking them to a small little lounge after dinner before they headed to a nightclub. She hadn’t been out dancing in ages, apparently, and was very enthusiastic about the idea.

At first, it had gone exactly as Hana had hoped, with Riley downing vodka sodas while Hana just sipped on an amaretto sour as they sat in a little booth at the lounge. When they’d paid the cover to enter the nightclub, the bass from dance tracks resonating through Hana’s entire body, Riley appeared to be tipsy. Hana figured a couple more drinks, an hour or so of dancing, and then they could head out and actually talk.

What she hadn’t accounted for was the swaths of men who didn’t seem content to let them dance without butting in, invading their personal space without even saying hello. All of these men came with offers to buy them drinks, and while Hana always declined, Riley seemed keen on taking every single one of them up on it, wandering over to the bar time and time again, dragging Hana along with her.

Currently, Hana was standing there, watching as a tall man with very blond hair ordered Riley yet another Long Island Iced Tea. Riley was well passed the point of tipsy and was incredibly intoxicated, leaning heavily against the bar, the words she was practically yelling over the loud music slurred into a giant mess. The man in question didn’t seem to mind at all, though, handing his credit card over to the bartender.

“Excuse me!” Hana called out, the bartender pausing to look at her.

“Sorry!” yelled the blond man, leaning close to Hana so he could speak directly into her ear, “I didn’t know you were drinking. What do you want?”

Hana just shook her head and rolled his hand off her shoulder, leaning over the bar to speak directly to the bartender, tugging her skirt down as she did so. The length was not something she was used to, and she was feeling self conscious of how high it would ride up her thighs with her movement.

“Cancel that Long Island Iced Tea, please. She and I are leaving.”

The bartender glanced between the three of them, but after just a couple of seconds, he nodded with understanding. Hana then spun towards Riley, hoping that she would be a cooperative drunk.

“Riley, sweetie,” Hana said, leaning to speak directly in her ear. 

Riley spun to face her, stumbling slightly on her heels as she moved, grabbing Hana’s arm. “Yeah?” she said, a concerning glazed looked to her eyes as she seemed to struggle to meet Hana’s eyeline.

“It’s time for us to leave.”

“I think she can decide if she wants to leave for herself.”

Hana rolled her eyes. She had hoped that the blond man would have moved on, but it seemed like he had set his sights on Riley. Ignoring him, she linked her arm through Riley’s and started to navigate them toward the coat check, but the man grabbed Riley’s wrist and tugged her back towards him.

“Riley, why don’t you tell your friend you’re having a good time and that I can get you home.”

Riley just looked dazed, her gaze unfocused, so Hana stepped forward and tugged her towards her side. “Riley, come on,” she said before looking at the man, “You are a disgusting excuse for a human being if you think that she is in any state to go _anywhere_ with you.”

“Bitch!” the man spat out, but he seemed to decide that having this fight with Hana was not worth his time as he turned away and walked away from the two of them, probably looking for some other woman to ply with alcohol. Shaking her head, Hana wrapped her arm around Riley and moved them towards the exit. When they were waiting for their coats, Riley seemed to gain a little awareness of her surroundings.

“Where’d Peter go?”

Well, Hana had a name for the blond man with ill intentions now. “He had to go, and so do we,” she said, trying to guide Riley’s arms into her jacket.

“Oh,” said Riley, “Is Peter, I mean, where’s he, _yeah_ , you know?”

Hana just blinked, not really having any clue what Riley’s drunken ramblings were supposed to convey. “Come on, sweetie. Let’s get a cab back to my hotel.”

Hana was able to shepherd Riley out onto the sidewalk, but when she attempted to flag down a taxi, Riley batted down her arm, almost falling into the gutter in the process.

“No taxi, only three blocks,” she slurred, stumbling away from Hana and down the sidewalk with surprising speed.

“Riley, wait!” Hana cried out, “Where are you going?” But Riley didn’t give any response, so Hana took off after her. Any efforts to redirect her were met with groans and slurred grumbles and complaints, so after a few attempts, Hana just followed along. Riley was clearly on some sort of drunken mission, and Hana was going to be along for the ride, apparently.

It was a tricky route to wherever Riley was going. There were numerous other bars, clubs, and restaurants in this part of the city, and even though it was after midnight, there were still many people on the sidewalk, many of them just as drunk as Riley. Trying to prevent collisions, dodging cat callers, and keeping Riley upright was taking a lot of effort. Hana barely felt like the sidewalk was any less of an overwhelming place of noise and bodies than the dance club. Her ears were ringing and she was exhausted. She just wanted to get Riley safely into a bed and then go to sleep herself.

After a couple of blocks, Riley stopped in front of a small market, veering towards a side door. Hana was about to correct her that not only was the market closed, but that she was trying to enter what was clearly an employee entrance, but Riley fished a set of keys out of her pocket and fumbled with them, trying to unlock the door. At that moment, Hana realized that this door wasn’t to the market, it was to Riley and Drake’s apartment building.

After a couple of tries, Riley got the door unlocked and open, so Hana followed her into what appeared to be a mailroom for the building and then up a flight of stairs. Hana didn’t know what she had pictured for where Drake and Riley lived, but it certainly wasn’t this. She was trying hard not to be judgemental, but she’d never been inside a building so run down. It had probably been an adjustment for Drake compared to living at the palace.

As Hana trudged up several flights of stairs behind Riley, catching her from falling twice, she couldn’t help but think about Drake and Riley, not only living in this building, but in this neighborhood, in this city. Riley she could kind of imagine, out at a different bar or restaurant everyday, trying new foods and drinks, charming different people left and right. She was so bubbly and outgoing and had a definite wild, impulsive streak.

But Drake? Nearly agoraphobic, routine loving, scoffed at the new and unknown Drake? She just couldn’t see it. He would have punched at least five people on their walk back from the club alone. Try as she might, she couldn’t picture him in a place that was so loud and with so many different people. It seemed like the type of thing he would avoid at all costs. She didn’t know what to make of that. Did Drake have some secret, social side that he only let Riley see? Or was he just miserable and surly all the time? Hana felt like it was probably the latter. It made her sad to even think about. Here he had made a grand romantic gesture, moving to be with the woman he loved, and it was probably draining and stressful beyond his wildest dreams.

Eventually Riley turned down a hallway and made her way to a door labeled 4B. She tried to use her keys, but was struggling to figure out which key went into which lock. After a few seconds, Hana stepped up to grab the keys herself, but before she could even offer her help, Riley started crying, sinking to the floor.

“Riley!” she cried out, crouching down and grabbing her shoulders and rubbing circles against them. “It’s okay; I can unlock the door. It’ll be okay.”

“S’not that,” Riley mumbled. “I jus’ wanted t’forget t’night… T’not feel so bad…”

“Shhhh,” hummed Hana, sitting down on the floor next to Riley, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

“I’m so lonely. But no one cares,” Riley slurred, head thrown back against the door, “He’s never coming back and I’m gonna always be alone.”

“Riley, plenty of people care about you,” Hana said, trying to provide words of reassurance, but it was like Riley was just giving some sort of emotional speech, and she just kept mumbling the same thoughts over and over again. That she was alone. That she had no one. That everyone would always leave her. So Hana did the only thing she could think to do. She sat there with her, letting her ramble and release her pain. She wasn’t going anywhere, and hopefully that fact would provide at least a little comfort.


	19. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riley and Hana delve into the events of the preceding night. Drake takes care of some practical measures to allow him to move forward with his life.

Riley felt like her head couldn’t feel worse if it were literally ripped apart. She slowly opened her eyes, trying to get a sense of her bearings. She had to blink a few times to bring everything into focus, her contacts practically glued to her eyes. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw she was in her own apartment. She had no memory of leaving the nightclub.

Switching to Long Island Iced Teas had been a mistake. It _always_ led to bad decisions for her. But it had been so nice to just feel happy and carefree again. The first few drinks of the night had gotten her there, and all she had wanted to do was prolong that feeling. But ever since Cordonia, all this pain and sadness that she’d worked so hard to keep locked away had just kept bubbling to the surface. She just hadn’t wanted to feel that way, and the alcohol had been a quick fix.

Sitting up slowly, gingerly, she glanced around the room. Her jacket was hanging over the chair at her desk, her cellphone and wallet placed on top of her laptop. She was in a pair of gym shorts and an old FDNY t-shirt, her clothes from last night folded up neatly on top of her dresser. Anderson was curled up in his spot on the armchair. It was not what she expected after a night where she got blackout drunk.

Spinning slightly, Riley felt her stomach bottom out when she saw another body in bed with her, but quickly let out a rough sigh when she realized it was Hana, not some random guy. The fact that she hadn’t brought someone home with her only lessened her feelings of shame slightly. Last night was still a series of bad decisions, even if she didn’t throw a bomb into her relationship on top of everything.

She tried to shift gently out of bed, wanting to go take out her contacts, brush her teeth, and find some Advil, but her movements woke up Anderson, who bounded off of the chair and over to her, prancing excitedly around her feet. The jangling of his tags woke Hana, who bolted up and over to Riley before she could even process that Hana had apparently borrowed a sweatshirt and cotton shorts from her.

“Riley, thank goodness you’re alright! How are you feeling?” she rambled, grabbing Riley’s shoulder gently.

“I feel like shit, Hana,” was all Riley could croak out before bolting past Hana into the bathroom, reaching the toilet just in time. Hana joined her a few seconds later, holding her hair back and rubbing circles between her shoulder blades. After the retching subsided, Hana spoke.

“Why don’t you brush your teeth and climb back into bed?”

Riley shook her head, “I need to take Anderson out and feed him.”

“Let me do that.”

“Hana, thank you, but don’t you have meetings or something? It’s my own fault I feel like this. Don’t worry about me.”

Hana shook her head slowly, “I already canceled my meetings. Come on, I’ll take care of Anderson, you take care of yourself. Then, we can talk.”

Sighing, Riley hefted herself off the floor as Hana left the bathroom. She could hear her talking softly to Anderson as she started brushing her teeth, and then she heard the latch of the door. Alone, she took a shuddering breath as she tried not only to quell the still-present nausea, but also to get a grasp on the fact that Hana had been in her apartment. She didn’t know why it unsettled her so much. It’s not like Hana was rude or tactless - she was never going to comment on its size or condition. But it still felt mad weird.

Riley knew she likely owed Hana big time for getting her home last night. And now, she was here, taking care of her instead of going to the meetings she had set up. And she wanted to talk. Riley had no idea about what, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out that whatever it was, it was going to be uncomfortable. Lord only knew what she had done at the end of last night.

After taking out her contacts, washing her face, clipping back her hair, and throwing on a sweater and some jeans, Riley went to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. She down at her desk, taking little sips, seeing if she would be able to keep anything down, but after a few minutes, she was back crouching in front of her toilet. She heard the apartment door open while she was rebrushing her teeth. Apparently, Hana was back with Anderson.

When she came out of the bathroom, she couldn’t help but laugh at the sight in front of her. There was Hana, wearing some of Riley’s old workout gear and the high heels she’d worn out last night, dumping about five meals worth of kibble into Anderson’s bowl. Anderson was prancing and wiggling around, clearly excited about the jackpot of food he’d just received.

“Hana, that’s plenty for him,” said Riley as she sank to the floor next to the bathroom, too shaky to keep standing and too nauseous to move too far from the bathroom.

“Oh Riley, let’s get you back in bed,” said Hana, crossing the room, but Riley just shook her head.

“Trust me, I’m good right here.”

“Okay. I swung by that store beneath your building and picked you up some ginger peach juice,” she said, handing her a small juice container from a bag she’d left on the desk, “The ginger should help with the nausea and the sugars should help if you feel weak or unsteady.”

Riley gave her a small smile, accepting the juice. Hana glanced around the room, then sat on the floor opposite Riley, leaning back against the bed and facing her.

“How… how much do you remember about last night?” Hana asked, her voice small and timid.

“Uhh, I remember getting to Kismet; I remember tugging you onto the dance floor; and I remember having a few Long Islands. It’s pretty fuzzy after that.”

“Well, I think we should probably discuss some things from the latter half of the evening then,” she said primly, clasping her hands in her lap.

“ _Shit_ ,” thought Riley, “ _what did I do?_ ” She wracked her brain, trying to come up with anything that Hana would want to talk about. But try as she might, after a certain point, she only had very vague images.

“Hana, whatever I did or said or whatever, I’m so sorry. I wasn’t-”

“Riley, I don’t need you to apologize for anything. But we need to talk about what you told me.”

Again, Riley tried frantically to figure out what Hana was referring to, but she kept drawing a blank. After a few long seconds of silence, Hana finally spoke again.

“I need you to know that you aren’t alone. I don’t care if we’re in neighboring rooms at the Beaumont’s or if we’re half a world apart. Whenever you need me, I’m here for you.”

Riley took a sip of her juice, trying to figure out what the hell had happened at the end of the night. “I know, Hana.”

“Riley… the hour we spent on the floor in the hallway while you cried that no one cared about you would tend to indicate otherwise.”

“Wait, we did _what_?”

“You kept talking about how you were always going to be alone and everyone was always going to leave in the end.”

Riley felt so humiliated. She thought she’d kept those fears pretty buried, but apparently she just unloaded on Hana while drunk out of her mind, “It’s a foster kid thing, Hana. I know you guys care about me. Being alone for the first time in almost a year has just brought up some old feelings.”

“But you _aren’t_ alone, Riley. Not in the ways that matter. Physically living alone doesn’t mean you’re truly alone. Trust me, I _know_ the difference. And even if we aren’t right with you, you have to know that Maxwell and Drake and I will always be there for you. Liam too, even if his royal obligations might limit him somewhat. But you have to know that all you need to do is call us or send us a text, and we’ll be there for you, in whatever way you need. We love you, Riley.”

Riley let out a shuddering breath. “Hana, you have to understand that my life experiences make that hard to believe sometimes. I’ve spent a long time making sure I’m the ‘fun friend’ and not really trusting anyone to actually want to deal with the rest of my shit.”

“I can certainly understand that feeling,” said Hana, tilting her head slightly towards Riley, “but I’m working towards accepting unconditional love and friendship when it’s offered, to not doubt the good relationships in my life. And while I’m not looking to tell you what to do, I think letting all your pain and worry build up until you unleash it all while intoxicated might not be the best coping strategy.”

Riley nodded. Of course, Hana was right about this. She was fucking right about everything. “I just don’t know how to handle a relationship, Hana. I’ve always kept things casual before, and that meant things were fun and easy. But… I don’t know. I don’t know if I’m an idiot clinging to the small possibility that he’ll come back, or if I’m a fool for thinking I should just cut my losses when it’s obvious he’d rather be with Liam than with me.”

“You are neither a fool nor an idiot,” said Hana, reaching out and grabbing her hand.

“I just don’t know what to make of everything. And I just don’t know whether it’ll hurt more if I just call it all off now or I wait until this drags on until its inevitable end. I’ve never dealt with something like this before.” 

“I’m afraid I’m not a great wealth of romantic experience.”

Riley chuckled at that. “Maybe not, but I still trust your judgement.”

Hana took a few seconds to collect her thoughts. “Alright, I think making this decision on the basis of fear is not the right approach. It’s not going to bring you any sort of happiness or even a sense of resolution if you just try to avoid pain.”

“I just don’t want to feel like shit, Hana.”

“But you already do, don’t you?”

Riley dropped her head, “I just don’t know if I can handle him telling me that I don’t matter to him, not enough anyway.”

Hana let out a little humming noise, but didn’t say anything. When Riley looked up at her, it was clear she had something on the tip of her tongue.

“What is it?”

“It’s nothing. Like I said, I don’t have much romantic experience.”

“I want to hear what you have to say, Hana.”

Hana swallowed pointedly and took a deep breath before starting, “I think you are being too hard on Drake.”

Riley didn’t know what she was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t that. She sat there in stunned silence while Hana continued, “Look, I went and saw him the other day at the palace, and he was an absolute mess. He talked about how guilty he felt, and it was clear that he was devastated that you had to fly back alone. Plus, it’s not as if he stayed behind to just drink whiskey and goof off with Liam. He was trying to aid his friend through an incredibly stressful situation.”

“Hana, I get what you’re saying, but you weren’t here to see how much he was just itching to get back to Cordonia. It just seems like he impulsively followed me here, and now that the honeymoon phase is over, he’s just done with me. Or that he only wants me when it’s convenient for the rest of his life.”

“Riley, he uprooted his _entire_ life for you, so you know that isn’t true.”

“And maybe now he sees that was a giant mistake.”

“Or maybe he’s trying to figure out where he fits into your life here, and it’s been hard for him.”

“Trust me, Hana. He never made any _real_ effort to make a life here. He never tried to make any friends or even joined me when I went out with my friends or-”

“Did he refuse to meet your friends, or did you just vaguely invite him and hope that he’d read your mind?”

Riley mentally reeled at Hana’s statement. She’d never heard Hana interrupt anyone before, and here she was, somehow calling Riley out on things she should have no knowledge of _and_ putting her on the defensive, “Why would you say that?”

“Because it’s been a very long time since I saw Drake say no when you asked him for _anything_.”

“I was trying to give him space.”

“Since when, Riley? Since you two became friends, you’ve been pushing him - to talk, to be social, to try new things. Why did that change when you two became a couple?”

“I don’t know. He’d already moved for me. I didn’t want to add any extra pressure.”

“But it sounds like you just dropped back into your old life. Meanwhile, he was probably floundering. He’s a creature of habit and his closest relationships are with people he’s known since childhood. It can be hard work to find new friends. He also had to look for a job on top of that, which is stressful in its own right.

“And look at the neighborhood where you live - can you imagine Drake ever wanting to live somewhere so crowded and noisy? Or even this apartment, Riley. I dug through your dresser and closet last night, looking for some clothing for us, and you have filled every square centimeter with your belongings. How was Drake supposed to feel at home when you didn’t even have a place for him to put his clothing?”

“What are you saying, that I didn’t want him here or that I didn’t treat him right?” Riley snapped, suddenly feeling very put on the spot.

“ _No_ , Riley. That’s not my goal here. I just think that you should not hold Drake to an impossible standard.”

“You think that me wanting him here with me is an impossible standard?” Riley sneered.

Hana just sighed, “Riley, I know you’re hurting, but I just want you to look at this objectively. Drake moved to a foreign country where he had no professional and exactly one personal connection. The life he was living was probably a pretty stressful one in a lot of aspects, and then his best friend in the world was under threat of assassination and his father died. Can you at least see how that might be a tough combination of circumstances for him to navigate?”

Riley knew Hana was right, but that didn’t make it hurt any less to hear out loud. She felt like a shitty girlfriend for not addressing Drake’s adjustment earlier. She’d been so focused on getting back into her New York life, she hadn’t really wanted to dwell on the ways Drake was struggling.

But that was her problem - she never wanted to deal with the unpleasant. Unpleasant meant pain and so her whole adult life, she’d just charged full steam ahead. But that’s apparently how you ended up blackout drunk crying in the hallway outside your apartment.

“I just wanted us to be happy.”

Hana nodded gently, “But pretending you’re happy isn’t the same as actually being happy. Look, Riley - you adapt so well to various situations. But Drake likes his routines a lot more, and he’s just not as flexible. And while I don’t have a lot of experience to draw from, I do know that part of being in a healthy relationship is allowing your strengths to help your partner in areas where he or she struggles.

“In some other languages, like Greek, Italian, or French, there are various words for ‘you’ and ‘your’ - a singular version and a plural version. I think you were so focused on enjoying being back in _your_ life in New York,” she said, gesturing towards Riley, “that you never got a chance to create _your_ life as a couple. One that works for both of you.”

Riley took in her words as she drank a little more of her juice. “Hana, I don’t understand how you can be so sheltered but still fucking know everything.”

Hana blushed and laughed, “Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach.”

They sat there together on the floor in silence for a few moments. Eventually, Anderson came trotting over, clearly wanting some attention as he climbed onto Hana’s lap. Riley glanced at his bowl and saw that he’d devoured his generous meal. 

“Fingers crossed he doesn’t get sick from that feast,” Riley mused.

“Oh no! Did I feed him too much? Oh, I’m so sorry!”

Riley waved her hand and shook her head, “No worries, Hana. You’ve done plenty for me.”

“And I’ll keep doing so, Riley. You’re my best friend, and I can be here for you as long as you need. I am scheduled to fly out tomorrow night, but I can certainly change my flight if you’d like me to stick around.”

“No, I’ll be okay. You should go home.”

“Are you sure, Riley?” Hana’s eyes were wide and full of concern.

“I’m sure, Hana. I can always call you if I want to talk, right?”

Hana smiled at her, “Of course you can.”

* * *

Liam walked into the private dining room to grab a quick breakfast before heading down to make an appearance at the courthouse, but he was not alone. There was Drake, sitting in his usual seat, a mug of coffee and some eggs and bacon in front of him. He was staring at his phone with such intensity, it was almost comical.

“Something interesting there?” Liam asked as he poured himself some coffee from the carafe.

Drake jerked his head up, clearly surprised by Liam’s appearance, but gave him a small smile and said, “Not really, no. Just a text.”

“From Riley, I presume?”

Drake looked at Liam for a few seconds before he answered, “Yeah, but we don’t need to talk about her if you would rather… er, not.”

“That’s thoughtful of you,” said Liam, “but unnecessary. Unless it is a… er, _private_ message, in which case I-”

“No!” said Drake, emphatically shaking his head, “She just asked if I’ll be in New York this weekend or if she should pick up some extra shifts.”

“What did you tell her?”

“I told her yes.”

“Okay… Drake, I’m not sure why this rather mundane sounding interaction has you so distracted.”

“It’s just… she just texted back ‘okay.’”

“And…?”

“And she doesn’t seem very happy about it. So now I wonder if she doesn’t… I just… How would you interpret this shit?” Drake said, rubbing his forehead.

“I am not comfortable answering that, my friend.”

“Right! Sorry, I should have never asked. I just don’t-”

“Drake, it’s not _that_ ” Liam said with a laugh, “It’s simply the fact that getting my opinion on anything to do with Riley Liu is a terrible idea. She _rejected_ me and my way of doing things.”

Drake scrunched his eyes closed for a moment and let out a sigh, “I just don’t know what she wants.”

“I would trust your instincts, Drake. They seem to have served you well in the past when it came to her.”

“I know, I know. I already bought the tickets. I’m just doubting myself now.”

Liam let out a little sigh. As much as he liked having Drake around, he knew Drake was making the right choice for him. “When do you leave?”

“Tomorrow morning. I have to finish up at the house today.”

Liam nodded, “Alright, well I’ll see you off after breakfast tomorrow.”

Drake shook his head, “My flight takes off just after 5.”

“Alright, well drinks tonight then?”

“Yeah, okay. That sounds good.”

“Just swing by my office when you get back.”

“Actually, can we do my quarters? I was planning on packing them up tonight.”

Liam paused for a moment at that statement, a statement that made Drake’s leaving feel that much more real and permanent. “Of course, Drake. But don’t feel that you need to empty them completely if you run out of time. I’ll keep them for you at least through the wedding.”

Drake took a long sip of his coffee as he nodded, but when he put down his mug, he looked determined. “Look, maybe this isn’t my place to say, but I have to ask - are you _sure_ you want to marry _Madeleine_?”

At Drake’s question, Liam let out a long sigh. No, he wasn’t sure at all. He’d gotten engaged to Madeleine as a last resort, and now it just kind of seemed inevitable. He had no reason _not_ to marry her at this point.

Drake latched onto his sigh and long pause, clearly taking them as an opening, and continued to speak, “I mean, I don’t even see what she brings to the table if you’re gonna do the whole political marriage thing. Kiara is a better diplomat. Hana’s kinder and much more pleasant to be around. Hell, even Olivia at least actually _likes_ you as a person. I’m just saying that it doesn’t even seem like she’s the best option from that standpoint."

“Father thought she brought the most to the table.”

“Oh,” Drake dropped his gaze to his plate at that, clearly not expecting him to bring up his late father, “So, are you marrying her to… uh, honor his memory?”

“I don’t know. Sometimes I feel like I should just fulfill one of his last wishes, and other times I just feel guilty because I don’t want to be _anything_ like him. Do you ever… do you sometimes take a particular action or path just because you feel it’s what Jackson would have wanted?”

Drake nodded, “Yeah, but I think my situation is a little less…”

“Complicated?”

“I was going to say fucked up, but complicated works too.”

Liam laughed, “I suppose you’re right. Well, thank you, Drake, but I need to be going to the courthouse.”

“Ahh, shit. I didn’t mean to overstep, Liam.”

“You didn’t,” said Liam, shaking his head, “I am glad you were able to be candid with me. I’ll see you tonight, okay? We can try and put a dent in that whiskey stash of yours that you’re going to have to leave behind.”

“Yeah, okay. I’ll see you tonight, Liam.”

* * *

“Drake, you in here?”

Savannah’s voice rang out through the hallway. Drake left his old bedroom, boxes strewn across the floor and bed. Between yesterday and this morning, he’d made good progress. He’d cleaned out the kitchen, the living room, the den, and his bedroom. Bastien had promised to take care of his dad’s office and his parent’s bedroom, so that only left the bathroom and Savannah’s bedroom for her to handle.

“Hey, Savannah,” he said when he got to the living room, hugging her in greeting, “Thanks for coming out.”

“Yeah, no problem. Wow, you should have let me know you were going through the place. I could have helped you out,” she said as she took in the numerous boxes piled against the walls.

Drake shrugged, “I figured you were busy with Bartie. Where is he, by the way?”

“Bertrand has been wanting to spend some time with him one-on-one, so when you asked me if I could come out here the other night, I figured today would be a great opportunity.”

Drake nodded, “Well, give him a hug from Uncle Drake, okay?”

“Of course. So, why’d you need me out here? Are you looking to sell the house?”

“Not exactly.”

“Then why are you packing everything up?”

“Here,” he said, grabbing a packet of papers off the coffee table and handing it to her, “this is for you. And Bartie”

Savannah started glancing through the documents, her eyes growing wider by the second. “Drake, is this…”

“Yeah, it’s the deed to this house. It’s all in your name.”

“What the hell are you doing, Drake?”

“The house is yours.”

“But… why?”

“Because you need it more than I do.”

“Are you drunk or something? I have a home, you are the-”

“No, Savannah. You don’t have a home. Your name is not listed anywhere on the Beaumont’s property, and you don’t pay rent. You are a house guest.” Savannah opened her mouth to protest, but Drake kept going, “Now, I hope that everything works out the way to want it to with Bertrand, but in case something were to happen, you now have a place that’s just yours. Someplace you can bring Bartie.”

“Nothing is going to happen, Drake.”

“I hope you’re right. In that case, this house can just serve as an insurance policy. But if things don’t go according to plan, I want you to have someplace you can go. I don’t want to you feeling like you have to run away again.”

Savannah stared at him for a few moments, her brow furrowed, “You won’t bribe me into staying here. Did it ever occur to you that I could have moved in here when I was pregnant, but I chose not to? Did it ever occur to you that I want more than _this_?” she asked, gesturing around the room.

“Then sell it and move where you want to go. Just tell me where that is.”

“If this house comes with strings, then I don’t want it. You don’t get to put conditions on gifts, Drake.”

“And you don’t get to do whatever the hell you want without consequence. Do you know how bad it hurt me when you were just gone one day? How long I looked for you, how many assholes I called, hoping you were in touch with any of them?”

“I was scared! I was pregnant, and I didn’t know what to do, and I was so ashamed. How could I face you? How could I tell you I’d gotten knocked up by one of those nobles you hated oh so much?”

Drake swallowed, trying to break up the rough lump in his throat, “I’m sorry if I ever made you think that there was anything you could do that would make me care about you less, but you need to stop acting like you were the only victim there. You denied Bertrand a lot of important firsts. You denied Bartie the chance to know his father from the start. You put Maxwell in an awkward situation where he had to lie to a lot of people to cover for you. And you-” Drake cut himself off. He took a few deep breaths, trying to stop himself from crying, “and you left me all alone. After Mom left, I just…. You were my only real family left. And you were just able to take off.”

“Drake, I-”

“You hurt me, Savannah. And I know you were upset and afraid, but I was hurting, too. Because I always thought you would be the one woman who wouldn’t leave. But then you did. And now you’re back, and that’s great, but I just worry that something will happen. That you’ll run off again. All I wanted to do is give you a safe place to go. I just didn’t want to fail you again” he said, his voice cracking as a few tears trickled down his face.

“Drake, you never failed me. I just… I couldn’t face being here.”

“But you felt like you couldn’t come to me. You didn’t trust me, and that means I didn’t do my job.”

“Oh Drake, it’s _never_ been your job to protect me from the world.”

“You’re my baby sister! Of course I’m supposed to protect you!”

“I’m a grown woman, Drake. I have been for a while. I made a choice, and maybe it was the wrong one, but I can’t undo it. But you need to know that my leaving was not about you. I missed you like crazy.”

Drake took a shaky breath and tried to collect himself, “I love you, Savannah. I really do. But if I’m signing up to have you just drop out of my life without any notice again, I don’t know if I can do it. I want us to be close again. I want to watch Bartie grow up. But I don’t know if I can handle losing you guys again. So, I think we should both promise that we’ll at least let the other know where we are, okay? No more falling off the face of the earth.”

Savannah nodded, “I can do that.” She wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug.

After they pulled apart, Drake pulled out his phone, “On that note, I am flying back to the States tomorrow morning. I’m gonna text you my flight info, alright?”

“Okay, Drake,” she said with an eye roll, “Your full itinerary is absolutely needed.”

“I just don’t want either of us to be lazy about this, okay? I’m serious, Sav. I can’t handle losing you like that again. I want to make this right.”

Savannah nodded, “I hear you, Drake. I do. I am sorry that I caused you so much pain. I hope you know that.”

Drake nodded tightly, “Thanks, Savannah.”

“No, _thank you_. You didn’t need to give me your half of the house.”

He just shrugged, “I kind of did. It’s time for me to move on with my life, you know? I can’t just keep bumming around with Liam indefinitely.”

Savannah gave him a couple of small nods. He knew she really didn’t get his desire to leave the king’s inner circle, but it was the truth. Even if Riley told him to go fuck off, it was time for him to do something different than crash at the palace and travel around with Liam. Liam had enough resiliency and support that he didn’t need Drake around anymore. And Drake trying to make a life for himself was about eight years overdue at this point.

“So, yeah,” he continued, “I didn’t touch your shit, obviously, but I took what I wanted. The rest of the boxes you can donate or go through or whatever you want. And Bastien’s gonna come here once the trials are over and take care of Mom and Dad’s stuff.

“Okay.”

“So here’s my copy of the keys. The house is now officially yours, Savannah Walker.”

She glanced around the room, “What a strange day,” she said with a laugh, “I’ve gotta let Bertrand know.”

She pulled out her phone to call Bertrand, so Drake took that as his cue to leave. He was just about to the front door when Savannah called out to him.

“Drake, _these_ are your travel plans?”

“Yeah, they are.”

She walked over to him, a big smile shining on her face. “I’m proud of you. Tell her ‘hi’ for me.” 

“Will do. Now, take care of yourself and that little boy,” he said as he wrapped up in a gentle hug.

“I will, Drake. Travel safe.”

* * *

Drake shifted in his seat. This flight had been worse than the one to Cordonia, because there he was exhausted enough that he just had passed out cold. Here, he was up for the entire thing, enduring every crying baby, every jolt of turbulence, and every time the woman in front of him reclined her seat straight into his knees. 

But thankfully, they were now in the final descent. Drake didn’t know what he would find at baggage claim. If she would be there or not. He’d sent the text last minute before hopping on the flight, so he didn’t know if she’d even seen it. The more he thought about it, the more his decision seemed like a terrible mistake.

He felt a jolt as the plane touched down on the runway, drawing him out of his own mind, it was too late for regrets now. As the plane taxied to its gate, one of the flight attendants came over the PA system.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the local time is 11:32 am and it is as sunny 67 degrees out. On behalf of the flight crew, let me thank you for flying with us today and welcome you to Austin, Texas.”


	20. chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drake clears the air with another woman in his family, and Liam comes to some decisions about his future.

Drake shuffled through Austin-Bergstrom airport, making his way over to baggage claim. He didn’t know what would be worse - his mother being there and acting like this was in any way normal, or her not being there at all. As he rounded the corner and headed for carousel 4, he saw her there, looking nowhere near as anxious as he felt. When she caught sight of him, she waved frantically and then dashed over to give him a big hug.

“Oh Drake, I’m so glad you’re here,” she said, squeezing him tightly.

Drake returned the hug, but it felt rather awkward, like they were acting out the parts of a mother and son reuniting at the airport. It didn’t feel natural.

“Hey, Mom. Savannah says ‘hi.’”

“Of course she does. Tell her she needs to bring that baby boy of hers out for a visit!”

Drake nodded and followed his mother out to the truck, throwing his luggage in the backseat before climbing into the passenger seat. As his mom backed the truck out of the short term parking spot and headed toward the exit, he tried to figure out whether he should start this conversation now or if it would be better to wait until they were at the ranch. He probably should have tried to come up with some sort of plan for this on his way out here, but it was too late for that now.

“Are you sure you can only stay one night?” Bianca asked once they had gotten onto the freeway, “We haven’t seen you in ages and it would be nice if you could stay for a bit.”

Drake shook his head, “I need to be in New York tomorrow night. Someone’s expecting me.”

“Liam?”

“No,” Drake replied, turning to stare out the window. He did not want to discuss Riley and how up in the air things were in his relationship. He came here for a purpose, and he couldn’t let himself get sidetracked onto another topic. His mother had an uncanny ability to redirect the conversation.

“Well, regardless of how long you’ll be here, this is a lovely surprise,” she said, clearly looking to keep things light and friendly. Drake cringed slightly, knowing he planned to take things in a very different direction. He took a deep breath before he started. It was now or never.

“Mom, I… well I actually came to Texas because I kind of need to talk to you about something.”

“Okay. What is it?”

“Well, it’s kind of a lot of things, actually.”

“Drake, are you in some sort of legal trouble?”

“ _No_! Why would you think that?”

“I don’t know, sweetie. You’re just being very cagey and I don’t understand what else would have you so jumpy and flying in on a whim.”

“This isn’t exactly a whim, Mom. I’ve thought about coming to talk to you about this for a long time now.”

“Okaaaayyy…” she responded, turning her head briefly to look at him as she dragged out the word, then snapping her eyes back to the road ahead. 

Drake tilted his head back slightly and closed his eyes, hoping that would make getting the words out a little easier, “I’ve been carrying this around with me for a long time. Trying to figure out how to say it without being an asshole to you. But I think it’s just gotten to the point where I need to tell you. There’s not a good way, really.

“When you left Cordonia, when you left Sav and me _in_ Cordonia, well… you hurt me. And I’ve been carrying around that hurt for almost half my life now. And I can’t keep doing it anymore. It’s not healthy and I just need to get it off my chest.”

“Oh, Drake,” his mother replied, “I’m so sorry. I thought I was doing right by you and Savannah, leaving you with Liam and your friends. You seemed so happy there, I didn’t want to uproot your lives any more than they already had been by your father’s death.”

Drake ran his hand over his face. He had kind of expected this - some superficial justifications and a light apology. But that was like slapping a bandage on a gunshot wound - it wasn’t actually going to help anyone. If they left it at that, he would leave Texas tomorrow the same as if he had not come at all. He had to keep going, even if it meant that he destroyed any semblance of a relationship he had with his mother.

“Okay, but we were just _kids_. For Christ’s sake, Savannah was only 12 when you moved out. We had just lost our father and then less than a year later we lost our mother too, by her _choice_. It’s bullshit that you even attempt to justify this, Mom. And you know it.”

She didn’t say anything, but he heard her flip her blinker on, getting off the highway at the next exit and pulling into a gas station parking lot, turning off the truck before she spoke.

“Drake, I’m sorry,” she bit out, her voice cracking, “But I was in no shape to be a mother. I was mourning and I had no support system. I needed my sister.”

Drake shook his head, “Sorry Mom, but that’s just too damn bad. When you’re a parent you can’t just fuck off because things are tough. _You_ were mourning? Well, what about me and Sav? We were mourning, too. You might have needed Aunt Lee, but we needed our mother.”

His mother was crying in earnest now, but Drake felt like he couldn’t stop talking, that all this old pain was just flooding out of him, “Tough shit that you were in pain. Your kids were hurting just as much. What kind of mother just leaves her children behind? How could you do that to us? Didn’t you miss your kids at all?

“I was 15, Mom. Fifteen years old and I suddenly had to figure out how to not only grow up and face the world all on my own, but I had to help Savannah, too. And you know what? It fucked me up. It made me wonder what was so wrong with me that my own mother couldn’t stand to raise me. It made me scared to get close to women, wondering if they were going to leave me too. It broke my trust and made me cynical.

“And I’ve let this shit sit inside of me for too damn long. I let myself grow bitter and cynical and jaded, all before I turned 30. And I just needed to talk to you, to _actually_ talk to you. Not gloss over our family’s messy past because that’s easier, but actually let you know what I thought, because otherwise this resentment is just going to keep growing and growing.”

Drake took a deep breath, trying to gain some semblance of control over this situation. He hadn’t meant to just dump years worth of pain onto his mother on the drive to the ranch, but in some ways, it was probably best that he had just kept talking. He didn’t exactly give himself a chance to back down or close himself off.

His mother wasn’t saying anything, just sitting there with her hands covering her eyes. Drake opened the glove box and found her some tissues, passing the packet to her. She grabbed them, swiping under both of her eyes before she spoke.

“Well, if you’ve said what you needed to say, I can drive you back to the airport. No reason for you to even stay tonight, it sounds like.”

“That isn’t _everything_ I need to say, Mom. I didn’t fly out here just to hurt you. I just… I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about my life. About what I want. About how to let myself be happy. And I think I realized that I need to move forward in a lot of areas. I’ve been stuck in a rut for a very long time, and it’s time to let myself change. So, I need to stop letting my past define my relationships. I need to stop letting my fear of abandonment drive my actions. And that means I need to make some changes to my relationship with you.”

“What kind of changes?” his mother asked, still sniffling slightly.

Drake shrugged, trying to gauge how to phrase it, “I don’t know yet. I mean, I know I just told you how much pain you’ve caused me, but I still love you, Mom. I just… if we decide we want to be a part of each other’s lives, I can’t keep doing it like this, getting one phone call from you a year on my birthday. I can’t have my mom acting like a distant great aunt or something.”

She shook her head, “I didn’t call because I felt so guilty. Talking to you was just a reminder of my failures as a mother. I assumed you saw it the same way and wanted nothing to do with me. I didn’t want to put pressure on you.”

“Well, you’re right. A handful of phone calls aren’t going to erase the past or anything. But I don’t know how things here get any better if we both just keep doing what we’re doing.”

“I want to be a part of your life, Drake,” she insisted, reaching over and grabbing his hand, “I really do want to know you and Savannah as adults.”

“This has to go both ways, then. A two way street, okay?”

His mother nodded emphatically, “You’re right. I’ll book a flight out to Cordonia soon, okay?”

“About that…” Drake said, “I, uh… I kind of moved.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. Er, I sort of live in New York City now.”

“Maybe I’m just missing something here, but how do you ‘sort of’ live anywhere?”

Drake sighed. Apparently, he was going to have to get into this, at least a bit. “Well, I kind of met someone, and I moved to New York to be with her, but things are kind of rocky between us at the moment and the move is pretty recent. I’m not exactly sure it’s gonna stick.”

She nodded slowly, staring off to the side as if she was searching for more information to make better sense of Drake’s ramblings. “So might you be heading back to Cordonia soon?”

Drake just shook his head, “Nah, not right away at least. Like I said, I gotta make some changes in my life. I don’t know that I’ll stay in New York if things don’t work out there, but I probably won’t head straight back to Cordonia. Too easy to slide back into my old habits there.”

“New York’s your first choice, though?”

“I mean, she’s my first choice, and she’s in New York, so yeah,” he replied with a shrug.

“Okay.”

“That’s all you have to say?”

His mother gave him a watery smile, “It sounds like you’re working through some things right now. Believe it or not, I _very much_ get that feeling. Given everything you’ve told me today, I think I’m mainly just glad you even shared that much with me.”

He let her words sink in for a little bit. He couldn’t be sure, but it seemed like a peace offering. Like his mother was trying to express interest in whatever part of himself he was willing to share at this point. He wasn’t naive enough to think that suddenly he would have the world’s most loving, attentive mother after today. He knew there was a high probability that they would end up drifting apart going forward. But that was okay. At least he’d put himself out there, shared his fears knowing full well that it might not make anything better. He’d held onto those fears, kept them far too buried for way too long.

“Well… I will let you know where I end up, okay?”

“I’d like that. Now, how about we get heading back to the ranch? I’ve got some chili in the slow cooker for you.”

“That sounds nice, Mom. Are you okay to drive?” he asked, gesturing to her red eyes and tear streaked cheeks. She just smiled and nodded, turning the key in the ignition and pulling the truck back onto the road.

“Oh, Leona’s head is going to explode when she hears you’re moving to one of the biggest cities on the planet,” she said after a few minutes of driving, the thought clearly just popping into her head. Drake laughed, picturing his surly aunt’s reaction. It was the first time he could remember laughing with his mother since before his father died. And while he knew their relationship was still an absolute mess, well at least there was one more good moment between the two of them now.

* * *

Madeleine rolled her shoulders back and took a steadying breath before knocking on the door to Liam’s office. She just had a terrible feeling about this meeting he’d requested with her. The only topic she could envision him wanting to discuss with her was their wedding, and the tone he’d used did _not_ imply a routine planning discussion.

She wasn’t an idiot. She knew she wasn’t his first choice as a wife. She probably wasn’t even his second choice if the amount of time he was spending with Olivia was any indication of who he actually liked to involve in his life. But she’d tried to be there for him. She’d learned from Leo that forcing things with Constantine’s sons got you nowhere. She’d let him carry on with Riley Liu. She’d been at his side through all the terrorist attacks and his father’s death, through calls for abdication and threats on both of their lives. For God’s sake, she’d taken a bullet for him. She’d hoped she’d be able to prove her worth as a political ally. But if the sinking feeling she’d had in her stomach was any indication, all she had done had not been enough.

“Come in,” Liam called out, his voice muffled by the door. She strode through with poise and purpose. She was not going down as some timid waif of a woman. She would face him with dignity.

Liam was not at his desk, but instead on one of the couches. They had never had a meeting that wasn’t at his desk, and the change in the setting unnerved Madeleine. But she wasn’t going to let him see that, not now. “Good evening, Liam,” she said, careful to keep her voice even and steady.

“Good evening, Madeleine. Please, have a seat,” he said, gesturing to the opposite couch. She walked over and delicately sat down, crossing her ankles as she did so. She knew how to comport herself, not that such behavior was going to get her anywhere.

“Would you like something to drink?” Liam asked, running his index finger along the top of his own glass of whiskey.

“That depends, Liam. Am I going to _need_ something to drink?”

He paused for just a moment, “I would venture to say yes.”

Madeleine nodded tersely, trying to take deep breaths without being too obvious. It was one thing to suspect your engagement was getting called off, it was another to have it confirmed. She had already been through this once before, but it still stung. “Vodka,” she said after a moment, after she was sure her voice wouldn’t crack.

Liam stood and walked over to a sideboard, crouching down and pulling out a bottle of Belvedere. “Any mixers or ice?”

“No, thank you,” she replied, accepting the liquor with a nod as Liam handed it to her before returning to his seat.

“Shall we get this over with?” Madeleine asked.

“Madeleine, _please_. I at least want to discuss this with you.”

“What’s to discuss, Liam? I don’t see the point in dragging this out. I’ve been through this before, remember?”

“I would like to talk this through at least. I want you to understand where I’m coming from.”

Madeleine let out a little laugh, “I don’t particularly need to understand your reasons, Liam. Quite frankly, you purging your soul and looking for absolution is not going to make me feel better. It’s just selfish.”

He actually smiled slightly at that comment, just for a brief second, before he let his calm, diplomatic expression return to his face. It infuriated her all the more, that her pain and frustration was apparently a source of amusement for him.

“It’s interesting that you would use that phrasing,” he said after a moment, staring at the whiskey in his glass. “Madeleine, I just have to ask, why do you even want to marry me?” He turned his eyes up to meet hers at the end of his question, almost as if he thought he was about to witness some moment of revelation. It was insulting, quite frankly.

“ _No_. You do not get to twist my words to make me sound like a crown chaser. I have been preparing to be queen my entire life. I am qualified in every way for this job. You would never fault a man for going after his professional dreams.”

Liam tilted his head back and forth, looking at her intently, “I might if he pursued them at the expense of all other realms of his life. Madeleine, do you really think being queen would bring you enough happiness to compensate for the extreme misery it would bring you in your personal life?”

Madeleine shook her head, letting out a frustrated snort. Everyone saw the ways that Leo and Liam were different, but right now, they’d never seemed more similar to her. They both had wanted her to be the one to end things. Leo had just ghosted her repeatedly, and when he did come around, there was always a new woman to throw in her face. Liam at least was more subtle, clearly trying to convince her that this was her idea. It was still infuriating in its own right, though.

“Liam, if you aren’t going to marry me, at least have the courage to call off our engagement yourself. You don’t get to dump me and have me do all the work for you.”

“Madeleine, this isn’t a decision I made lightly or on a whim. All I am trying to do is minimize the pain and discomfort here for all parties involved.”

“Well, that’s just too bad, Liam. You don’t get to break up with someone without hurting them.”

He sighed heavily, “Fair enough. I just hoped you might be able to see the positive aspects here. That you might be able to find a silver lining.”

“How could having my dreams ripped from me yet again be a positive, Liam? Explain that one to me, please,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“Well, you won’t be trapped in a loveless marriage and forced to raise children with a man you’re indifferent to at best,” he replied, shrugging his shoulders slightly, “That seems like it could be worth something.”

“Liam, be realistic. I will never marry for love. Any marriage for me will be a political one. You at least would have been a tolerable husband.”

“Why can’t you marry for love?”

“Be serious.”

“I am. I don’t see why you act like this is some impossibility.”

She just shook her head, “How are you still such a romantic? The woman you love chose your best friend over you.”

Liam raised his eyebrows at that comment, “Careful, Madeleine. There is little reason for either of us to resort to petty personal attacks here. But suffice it to say, that while Riley’s rejection was painful, it did not change my belief that there is love to be found out there, and I mean love for all of us.”

“Well, that’s not been my experience. And quite frankly, I don’t see how it’s been yours either.”

“Just because I am not currently in a loving relationship doesn’t mean that I don’t see a world full of potential for love and connection.”

She shook her head and let out a short little breath, “For a highly educated king, you are so naive. Nearly foolish.”

“And you have a very stubborn and narrow worldview. If someone hasn’t found love in the world, that’s either because they are blind to it or they reject it anytime it’s offered and push it away before it has a chance to grow. I think we both know in your case it’s the latter.”

“Awful presumptuous of you, assuming that anyone has even been open to loving me.”

Liam stared straight at her, the disbelief evident in his eyes, “Do Penelope and Kiara not count?”

“What? They aren’t attracted to women,” Madeleine retorted, waving her hand dismissively.

His eyes widened and his eyebrows shot up at that, “I can’t speak to their sexual orientation, nor was I _trying_ to, Madeleine. Love can be platonic, you know. You might have found that with Kiara or Penelope if you hadn’t berated them at every opportunity. Instead, they both chose to return to their homes. Or Hana, who has never been anything but kind and compassionate, could have been a true friend to you just as she has to so many others. Gentle Hana, who decided she couldn’t live under the same roof as you, would have been your friend if you hadn’t constantly cut her down and aimed to hurt her.

“I know your parents were never some source of unconditional familial love. Believe me, Madeleine, I can comprehend that. But it is your choice to continue to be harsh and compassionless with all your peers. If you can’t see that, I don’t know what to tell you.

“I am sorry that you have to go through a failed engagement for a second time, Madeleine. I truly am. But that isn’t enough of a reason to marry you. And I honestly believe this is the best chance at happiness for the both of us.”

“No, Liam. It’s the best chance at happiness for _you_. At least own that fact.”

After a few seconds of silence, Liam finally spoke, “You’re right, this is something I am doing for myself. But I hope that someday you’ll see that this opens up the potential for you to find something better as well.”

“Why now?” Madeleine asked, tapping her fingers against her untouched glass of vodka, “Why lead me on for months?”

“I probably never should have gotten engaged to you in the first place. I did so in a moment of desperation where I saw no other options for either of us. If you want to hold something against me, that is what it should be. But I am not going to let that lapse in judgement determine the course of the rest of my life. I do not want to be a bitter king who only has a family out of obligation. I want children that are born into a home of love and warmth. I may sacrifice many things for Cordonia, but I’ve decided this is one liberty I’m going to take for myself.

“Now, as far as the more practical matters go, if you want to be the one to announce the end of our engagement, I will happily grant you that opportunity. You can prepare a statement; I would just ask you send it to Stefan for review before you go to the press, but I understand if you prefer to release a statement independently. I can also send you to my private island for a while if you’d like to avoid the press _or_ your parents. I want to allow you time to collect yourself away from external pressures if you desire. Just let me know by this weekend, alright?”

“So that’s it? That’s all you have to say?”

“Yes, Madeleine. I honestly think we’re done here. Don’t you?”

“Of course, Your Majesty,” she said as she rose, downing her entire glass of vodka in one, then striding to the door. Once she was on the other side of the door, she pinched her eyes closed, fighting off waves of self-loathing and despair at her repeated failure. It was like Leo all over again, but this time, there was no back up plan. She was left entirely directionless, and now she had to figure out what she was supposed to do with her life now that the only thing she’d been raised to do was no longer possible.

* * *

The trials on Friday had run straight through to the end of the business day, and after all his late night case review, preparing for the press, Liam was exhausted. He was planning to head straight from the courthouse to his private quarters for a few hours of needed decompression, but as he answered a few questions from the press, he noticed Olivia standing over by the town car that was waiting for him, talking with his driver.

“Lady Olivia,” he said in greeting, nodding at her politely as he walked over after the press dispersed.

“Your Majesty. I was hoping to run into you. Are you headed back to the palace?”

“That was the plan.”

“May I join you for a bit? I was hoping to discuss if there were any more findings in regards to Anton’s spouse.”

Liam nodded. He did need to talk to Olivia about the investigation that he and Bastien had been privately conducting there. “Of course. Would you like a ride?” he asked, gesturing to his car.

Olivia shook her head, “My car and driver are just around the corner. I’ll meet you there. Do you need me to bring by some cookie dough and wine spritzers?”

Liam shook his head and chuckled. He should have known that Olivia would know that he called off his engagement, even though neither he nor Madeleine had released an official statement yet. “I think I’ll be fine, thanks.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, the glint in her eyes in direct contrast with her overly concerned tone, “Breakups can be tough.”

“Don’t gloat, Olivia,” Liam chided. He wasn’t really upset, but Olivia didn’t need to be _so_ pleased that he and Madeleine were no longer engaged.

“I’m just happy that you aren’t stuck in a miserable political marriage.”

“ _And_ …”

“ _And_ if Madeleine won’t become queen because of it, all the better.”

Liam couldn’t help but let out a little laugh. It’s not that he reveled in ending things with Madeleine, but it did feel like a significant weight had been lifted from his soul. “Shall we meet in my office?”

“Sounds like a plan. I’ll see you in a few.”

And so Liam went to his office when he returned to the palace. He’d been seated at his desk, reviewing some news sites, when Olivia was let in by Stefan about 10 minutes later.

“Sorry, I would have been here sooner, but I got stuck waiting for the royal motorcade. A real pain in the ass, I tell you.”

Liam chuckled at her statement, gesturing to the chairs in front of his desk. Olivia sank into one, leaning back and looking him in the eye before she spoke.

“Alright, what can you tell me about my supposed marriage to that traitorous vile snake?”

Liam let out a sigh, knowing there was no easy way to break this news. “What kind of wine do you want?”

“That bad, huh?” Olivia asked with a little wince.

He unlocked the middle desk drawer and pulled out the documents he’d set aside for her. “I wish I had better news. Unfortunately, the document your parents signed is legally binding.”

“ _Motherfuckers_ ,” Olivia breathed out, letting her head drop to the back of her chair. “I was _four_ , Liam. Who the hell marries off a toddler?”

“I’m very sorry, Liv. I have a private lawyer investigating how best to go about getting this annulled given all the clauses and conditions that various House Nevrakis members have put on the books over the centuries.”

“You brought in a private lawyer? Liam, I was kind of hoping-”

“He signed an NDA. However, I think it would be prudent to warn you that Anton might bring it up in trial if he decides to go scorched earth. The prosecutors would never reference it, but I have no idea what he or his lawyer are planning.”

Olivia inhaled deeply before nodding slowly. “I understand. Are you sure we can’t just torture him to keep him quiet?”

“Fairly certain that’s a violation of the UN Human Rights Council guidelines.”

“Even if I make sure it can’t get traced back to you?”

“Yes, even then, Olivia.”

“Damn,” she said with a little laugh, “So, either I release the info myself and undermine my public support in an effort to control the narrative, or I take a gamble that he won’t bring it up?”

“Unfortunately, yes. Those really are your only choices. No matter what you choose, though, you will have the Crown’s full support.”

Olivia tapped her fingernails against the desk’s surface, eyes roving over her marriage certificate. “I’ll release it Monday,” she said after a few moments, raising her head to look Liam in the eye. “It’s the opposite of what our fathers would have done, so that probably makes it the right call.”

Liam tilted his head at that. “Have your staff send Stefan your statement this weekend, and we’ll craft an official royal press release to match.”

“Thanks, Liam.”

“Of course, Olivia.”

“No, I mean it. I’m sure that you’re already being stretched thin between the trials, and I’m guessing you’re getting some pushback for calling off your engagement, so thank you for looking into this for me.”

Liam nodded. She wasn’t wrong. It hadn’t even been 24 hours since he called off his engagement, and he’d already been chided by several council members. Regina had also had some choice words for him after he blocked a meeting with Godfrey.

“How pissed are people that you aren’t getting married?”

“I think they’re more upset that they can’t technically do anything about it. The law clearly states a monarch needs to be either married or engaged to ascend the throne; it makes no reference to his or her marital state once they are the reigning monarch.”

“So, what’s your next move?”

“Nothing,” he said with a little shrug, “Like I said, they can’t really do anything about it. Thanks to you, public opinion of me is quite high at the moment, so it’s not like they can apply pressure that way either.”

“Nice,” she replied, nodding and cocking an eyebrow, “What are you going to do about an heir?”

Liam just shook his head, “I’m not even 30 yet. I feel like I have some time.”

“I agree, but others won’t. You’re going to have to have a statement prepared for when they start hounding you about it.”

He paused for a second, organizing his words, “Well, then I’ll just tell them that succession laws are clear, and that I am perfectly comfortable leaving Cordonia in the hands of the woman who is next in line for the throne.”

Olivia’s eyes widened before fluttering closed. She pressed her lips together and took several slow breaths before she opened her eyes, a slight glimmer noticeable in the corners. “Thank you, Liam,” she whispered.

“It’s the truth, Olivia. You care about this country and its people. If something were, god forbid, to happen to me, I would have no qualms about you becoming queen.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t need to say anything. How about we just have that glass of wine?”

Olivia just shook her head, “I wish I could, but I actually have… well, I have a date.”

Liam smiled gently, “Oh, well then it sounds like you have much better plans than me for the evening. I’ll let you get heading back to Lythikos.”

“The date’s here, actually.”

“Really?” Liam asked, his curiosity mounting by the second, “Who’s the man in question, and does he know what he’s getting himself into?”

“None of your business and of course not,” she replied, giving him a genuine smile as she stood up. “I’ll see you at the courthouse Monday?”

“Of course, Olivia. Have a wonderful evening.”

She smiled and walked out of the office, throwing up her hand in farewell as she closed the door.

* * *

Drake shifted in his seat. He could blame it on the cramped airline rows, but he knew it was more his nerves than anything. He was an absolute mess at this point.

For the second time in as many days, he was on a flight towards a woman he wasn’t even sure wanted to see him. But unlike when he went to see his mother, he was actually terrified of that fact. If his mother had been cold or hadn’t wanted to see him, he knew how to deal with that fact. He’d been through it before, and though he hadn’t come out without some emotional scars, he fucking got through it.

But Riley… well the thought that she might not want to talk to him shook him to his core. He honestly didn’t know what he would do if she told him to fuck off, that she needed a boyfriend who could actually handle her life or one that didn’t have a best friend with very specific emotional demands. It was honestly part of the reason he went to talk to his mother first - he was more scared of his talk with Riley. The stakes were just so much higher. He knew that made him a coward. But when he’d been booking his tickets, he just wanted one more day where he could pretend that Riley and him were going to be alright.

Part of him also knew that if Riley left him, he was likely to spiral a bit. Get drunk, self-destruct, throw himself a goddamn pity party. He knew he needed to talk with both Riley and his mother, but with how long he’d put off his conversation with his mother, he just knew he would never get around to it after a rejection from Riley. He wouldn’t have seen the point. It just had to happen first.

But now it was time to face the music with Riley. No more beating around the apple tree. She knew when his flight was landing at JFK, he’d sent her the flight details before he left Cordonia, and she’d texted back “okay.” Drake didn’t know if that meant she would be there or not.

If she wasn’t there, Drake wasn’t sure what his plan was. He was pretty sure she would be off this weekend, but just barging into her apartment felt presumptuous, even if he did still have a set of keys. Maybe he would just call her? See if she wanted to meet him somewhere?

But when he exited the plane and made his way towards baggage claim, he saw her there, standing off to the side, her arms crossed over her chest. He started walking toward her, his legs suddenly feeling heavy as lead. At some point, she caught sight of him, but she made no move toward him, just offering up a little nod. He raised his hand and waved, feeling like a giant dork in the process, but he didn’t know what else to do. As he made it those last painful meters, he tried to figure out what to say. But then he was in front of her and all he could do was stare at her. She was so beautiful, and nothing he could say felt like it would be enough.

Riley wasn’t saying anything either, and neither one of them made a move to touch each other. The tension was nearly palpable, and all Drake knew was that he had to break it somehow.

“Hey, Liu,” he choked out.

“Hi, Drake.”


	21. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reunited.

Drake didn’t know what to do, what to say. The greeting had been obvious, but now he stood there, just staring at her as she did the same. It was so uncomfortable, and Drake had no idea how to make it better. Maxwell and Liam had both said it was in his power to make things right. But they had _way_ too much faith in him here. He was absolute shit when it came to talking about things. Feelings. Emotions. All that crap. Yet, that was what he had to do here. Man, he just knew he was gonna screw everything up.

Taking a deep breath, Drake tried to find some words. “Do you think… I mean… we should probably… why don’t we… I guess-”

“Come on,” said Riley, spinning on her feet, “I have a place we can go.”

Drake felt his eyebrows scrunching together at that. He hoped they would head back to her place, but maybe she didn’t want him there. Regardless, she was striding with purpose towards the escalators, so he grabbed his bag and hurried after her. He couldn’t get left behind.

He followed her, not to the train, as he’d expected, but to the taxi bay. He loaded his luggage into the trunk before joining her in the backseat. She sat behind the driver, fingers drumming on her knees. The middle seat between them felt like some sort of clear barrier. Drake kept glancing over at Riley, but felt like it would be wrong to reach out and touch her. 

Every time she turned to look at him, he found himself quickly jerking his head over to look out the window. It was like they were back in the social season, back when he wouldn’t realize he was staring at her at some ball or bullshit event until she locked eyes with him. It had been an annoying realization back then - how much his eyes drifted to her. 

The ride to wherever Riley had told the cab to go was shockingly short, so soon Drake was grabbing his suitcase out of the trunk, taking in their surroundings. He had no idea where they were. It didn’t feel like New York City. There was a giant parking lot off to one side, and a swath of brush to the other. Drake didn’t see any other people around. He would have been sure they’d left the city if the ride had been any longer.

“It’s just a bit of a walk,” said Riley, gesturing through the brush.

“Should I bring this with me?” asked Drake, holding up his suitcase.

“Shit, I didn’t think about your luggage,” she said, “But yeah, bring it with unless you want it stolen.”

So Drake hefted up his suitcase and followed Riley across the stretch of land until they reached a small beach. It was quiet and isolated, not at all the type of place Drake would imagine finding in this city. The wind whipped off the water carrying a cool moisture and adding a deeper chill to the late fall evening. He instinctively glanced over at Riley, noting that she was just wearing a sweater. Clearly, either she hadn’t planned on taking him here initially, or she just didn’t think things through at all. She was gonna freeze.

“Here,” said Drake, dropping his suitcase into the sand, “take a seat. I’ll get a bonfire started.”

After he gathered some scattered driftwood and dry brush for kindling, Drake pulled out his lighter, nursing the flames to life before making his way back over to Riley, sitting down on the relatively flat rock next to his suitcase. The fire wasn’t large, but the warmth from the flames helped somewhat.

He looked over at Riley. She didn’t look too cold, but she did have her sweater wrapped around her tightly. She was staring straight ahead, almost through the flames. She was silent for a long time. Drake wasn’t sure if he was supposed to talk first, but since she was the one who wanted to come out here, he figured he would follow her lead, so he just sat there, staring out at the water with her.

“I used to come out here all the time when I was a teenager.”

Her words were quiet and small, but clear. Drake didn’t look at her. When she got like this, it was always because she was sharing something she’d rather forget, and he knew eye contact might scare her off at this point. So he just sat there, still and silent, waiting for her to continue.

“It was my mom’s fourth stint in prison, and I was with a family that lived not too far from JFK. The Grissoms. They were probably the worst foster family I was with. Nasty people, absolutely hated kids, just wanted the tax break. There were three other teenagers in the house and everyone was just mean and cruel. This one boy, Jason, was 16, and he stole all my clothes a couple of times and tried to get me to… well, let’s just say, I hated it there. 

“So, I tried to run away. I figured I could keep getting food at school and just live on the streets, but little Chinese girls tend to get a lot of unwanted attention if they’re out at night, so I just kept moving until I found this place. I just wanted somewhere remote, somewhere where no one would find me. It was peaceful. No one was harassing me. I would watch the planes take off from JFK and feel like maybe someday I’d really be able to get away from it all. I don’t know, I guess it gave me hope. I managed four nights out here when I was fourteen before a couple found me and called the cops.

“I got moved to a different home, at least. The Grissoms didn’t want to deal with an ‘ungrateful runaway bitch’ so they told my case worker that I was causing problems, hitting the other kids in their home, stealing from them, that sort of shit. I don’t know if the case worker believed them, or if it was easier just to get me out of there to not have to deal with their complaints, but she placed me with a different family for the last couple of months of my mom’s sentence.

“But no matter where I went for the next few years, no matter what neighborhood I got placed in or if I was back in Chinatown with my mom, I would come out here when I wanted to be alone and just think. It’s quiet, you know, and there’s rarely anyone else here. 

“I haven’t been back here in a few years. The last time was after my mother’s funeral, when I realized I was gonna have to drop out of college because I didn’t have a dime left to my name after her bare-bones funeral. But since then, I don’t know. I guess I just avoided thinking about things too deeply. It was easier just to drift along, never dealing with anything serious. Never _letting_ things get serious.

“I probably should have come out here more, ya know? I should have maybe actually dealt with some of my shit. But Drake, you have to understand that my experience in Cordonia, getting to know you guys… well it was nothing like anything I’d ever had before. I’d never had friends who actually gave a damn about me. And sometimes it still feels like it’s all going to come crashing down and leave me all alone. I’ve always ended up alone before.

“I panicked when you told me you were going to stay in Cordonia, and I assumed that I would never see you again. But I shouldn’t have ignored all your texts. That was… well, a mad shitty thing to do. So I’m sorry.”

“Riley, come on. I should be the one apologizing,” Drake began, turning his head to face her, watching her shake her head lightly.

“For what? Spending a week and a half with your best friend after his father died while he was under threat of attack? Come on, Drake. You _know_ that was a reasonable thing to do.” Her head dropped slightly at that, staring down at the sand beneath her feet.

“Maybe not for that,” Drake acquiesced, turning back to face the fire, “But for acting like I didn’t want to be here with you? For letting you think that I wanted out? Well, I could probably stand to apologize for _that_.”

He noticed Riley shift in his peripheral vision. He felt her eyes on him, her gaze practically burning a hole into the side of his head. She didn’t say a damn thing, though. Well, that must mean it was his turn to talk.

“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about… well, my life, I guess,” Drake started, dropping his head down to stare at his shoes. “I dunno, I think that I’ve been pretty… aimless, I guess is the right word, for about eight years. All I’ve really done is just kinda vaguely be there for Liam.

“Liam… well he kind of pointed out that I often tried to keep things that were bothering me from him. He just had so much stressful shit on his plate already, I didn’t ever want to add to that, you know? But he said it didn’t do us any favors in the long run that I kept everything hidden away. He was right, of course. It turned our friendship into some sort of duty in my mind. And that’s not fucking healthy. Since I left university, I’ve basically made myself his emotional guardian at the expense of every fucking other thing in my life.

“And I was really damn good at it. It turns out that I’m a fucking champ at repressing all the shit I’m feeling. At least I was until I dumped years of crap on Liam the day you left Cordonia.”

“Drake, are you guys…?” she asked, reaching over and grabbing his wrist. It was the first time she’d touched him since she’d gotten on that plane, and even though she was trying to be reassuring and gentle, he still almost felt as if her fingers carried an electric jolt. He swallowed roughly, trying to gain a better grasp on his emotions. Talking about all this shit was hard enough without him freaking out like a thirteen year old whose crush waved at him.

“We’re okay now. He uhhh… well, he had a bunch of shit to unload on me, too.”

“About… us?”

Drake glanced over at Riley. She looked so nervous, her brow furrowed and her lips scrunched together. She obviously felt guilty that she might have in any way played a role in the shit that went down between him and Liam. Drake’s instinct was to reassure her, tell her what she needed to hear to get that look off her face. But hiding the truth because it wouldn’t be pleasant for her was the type of shit he knew he needed to stop doing. So he took a deep breath and started talking again.

“I mean, that was part of it. More so that I didn’t tell him something was going on between us earlier than us actually being together, but yeah. We were… a topic of conversation. But Liu, it went a _lot_ deeper than us. I mean, we both had stuff from years and years ago we threw at each other. Shit from long before we even met you.

“I told you about the assassination attempt, how I left university to be there for him and all that? Well, I don’t think I ever really let myself move on from that decision. I just fucked around for almost a decade. I didn’t make life plans, I didn’t move forward. I just was there for Liam. And somewhere along the way, I don’t know, I stopped even thinking about what _I_ might want out of life. It’s like I didn’t let myself have a future.

“I guess I kind of fell into this pattern where I just hung around in case Liam needed me for something. I didn’t give it much thought. I don’t know. I just kind of… existed. I was really stuck. But then you came along, and I got to know you. It actually felt like someone got me. I could talk to you. I could drink with you. I didn’t hate myself when I was around you, and for the first time in a long time, I wanted something for myself.”

The words were barely out of his mouth when he realized how bad they sounded. He scrambled, quickly saying, “Shit. Liu, I didn’t mean that I saw you as some sort of object to own or keep or-” but Riley squeezed the wrist she was still holding, sliding her hand down into his, effectively cutting off his rambling apology.

“I know what you meant, Drake.”

He nodded and took another deep breath, “Right. Well, you know all this anyway. As much as I wanted to be with you, I just didn’t feel like there was any way you would ever want to be with me. Not when Liam was right there, and certainly not when no woman had ever wanted to stick around before. So I shoved you away. I pushed you towards Liam. But even with all that shit, you still somehow saw me. You stuck around. And I’m not used to _anyone_ sticking around.”

Drake let his words hang there, the wind whipping across the beach and the crackle of the bonfire the only sounds. He was tempted to light up a cigarette, something to distract himself from the weird mix of emotions he was experiencing from talking about all of this, but Riley kept holding onto his hand. And if she wasn’t letting go, he certainly wasn’t going to either, particularly for something as trivial as a cigarette. So they just sat there together. It was a few minutes before Riley spoke again.

“I feel the same way, Drake. Before this past year, I didn’t have anyone I was even _remotely_ close to. I never talked about my past with any of my friends, if you can even call them that. And sometimes the way you look at me, the way you listen to me, well… it scares the shit out of me. Because I finally know what it feels like to have someone understand me and still care about me, and all my mind does is worry how I am going to go back to _not_ having someone like that in my life when I end up all alone. Because that’s what’s always happened before - I end up all alone.”

Drake wanted to wrap his arm around her, assure her that he was never going _anywhere_ , but just like he hadn’t believed her during the social season or on the engagement tour when she said she wanted him, not Liam, he knew that ultimately, his words would do little to eliminate years of pain, worry, and insecurity. That healing from that and moving forward was not going to magically happen because he loved her. If it did, he probably wouldn’t have wasted so much time shoving her away from him and towards Liam.

“We’re quite the pair, aren’t we?” she asked, leaning against his side, placing her head on his shoulder.

“Heh. Well, at least we understand where the other one’s coming from.”

He could feel her cheek raising as she smiled, and it brought a smile to his own face. “Hana told me I should stop acting out of fear just to avoid the possibility of anything negative. And I’m trying, Drake. I really am. But it’s hard for me, and I can’t promise that it won’t take a long time for me to get there.”

She pulled away slightly, so Drake turned his head. Her dark eyes were staring at him, staring straight through him almost.

“That’s fine with me,” he said, “I don’t have anywhere else I need to be.”

“Drake…”

“Seriously, Liu. I think it’s clear after tonight that we both are trying to make some changes for the better in our lives. I could have just as easily told you that it was going to take me a long time to figure out what I want to do with my life going forward. So, what do you say? Are _you_ okay with me being a nearly 30 year old unemployed man without a degree who’s trying to figure his shit out?”

She nodded gently, reaching out to cup his cheek with her free hand. Drake closed his eyes at her touch, feeling like weight after weight had been shed with their conversation. When he opened his eyes, she was there, looking at him expectantly.

He leaned forward at the same time she did, and when they finally kissed, it wasn’t desperate or intense. It was calm, like they were testing the waters, rediscovering each other in light of everything. And for now, it felt like more than enough. They might be stumbling forward in their lives, but it was clear they both wanted to do so with each other. 

When they broke apart, Drake pressed his forehead against hers, trying to soak her in. “Riley…”

“We face our struggles together from now on, right?”

“Yeah, Liu. Together sounds good.”

She pulled away from him and pushed herself off his suitcase, extending her hand to him and helping him to his feet as well, “Why don’t you put out the fire, and I’ll call us a ride. I don’t know about you, but I’m about ready to go home.”

The cab ride into Manhattan, back to her apartment, was a much different sort of silent from the one an hour earlier. Riley sat right next to him, clutching the hand he’d flung over her shoulder, leaning up to kiss him every so often. They got stuck in traffic several times, but the tension and stress of earlier was gone. For all the work that lay ahead of both of them, it just felt nice to know that they wanted to go through it as a couple. 

When they finally arrived at her building, Riley told him she was going to go check the mail while he grabbed his suitcase. After paying the driver, Drake made his way to the building entrance. He moved to pull his keys out of his pocket, but Riley noticed him and pushed the door open for him, a small frown on her face and a little slip of paper in her other hand.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s a delivery attempt notification. It was taped to the mailbox. It says they tried to deliver a package that was too big for the parcel box, but I didn’t order anything.”

“Oh, well… that’s probably for me.”

She turned and stared at him, her forehead deeply wrinkled as she gave her head a little shake, but she said nothing, so Drake quickly scrambled to explain himself.

“Yeah, so I couldn’t fit some of the things I’d packed up in my luggage. I just put your address, and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you ahead. Bastien must have rush shipped them-”

Her lips were on his, his back hitting the metal of the mailboxes on the opposite wall and his suitcase falling to the ground before he could fully process Riley lunging at him. Unlike the kisses at the beach or in the cab, this was raw. Aggressive. Possessive. He felt himself responding before he could even fully mentally process what was going on, his hands sliding across her waist and down to her ass, holding her tight against him. She clung to his jacket, tugging him off the wall just slightly.

It was all fire and heat, intense enough to burn away the last traces of stilted awkwardness that had settled over their dynamic. Drake felt like his hands were moving of their own accord, tracing over her body, grabbing, pulling, cementing her as close to him as possible. At some point, he slid his hands down her back, over her ass and to her thighs, at which point she jumped just enough to wrap her legs around his hips as he held her tight.

After a few more moments of desperate kissing, Drake took a step forward, ready to move things upstairs. But he’d barely started to walk when he felt his balance completely falter as his foot collided with something. He didn’t have time to give Riley much of a warning, just tearing his lips away from hers as he yelled out “What the fuck?” His grip on her slipped and she tumbled off his hips and onto the floor with a surprised little yelp as Drake stumbled into the wall next to him.

“Riley, are you okay?” he asked, cringing as he moved aside his suitcase, the source of their current predicament. He crouched down next to her, scanning over her quickly, looking for any injuries, but Riley just threw her head back and laughed. After a few seconds, when he was sure the most damaged thing was his ego, Drake joined her, chuckling deeply. 

“Moves like that are always a bit sexier in the movies, huh?” she choked out between her bouts of laughter. “It’s probably for the best. I don’t think we would have made it up three flights of stairs like that.”

“Are you doubting my strength, Liu?”

“No, but after that demonstration, I _am_ doubting your coordination.”

Drake just shook his head. He ran a hand over his face before extending it to her, helping her to her feet as he stood up. She kept holding onto his hand, even when he took a small step away from her to pick up the suitcase that had interrupted them. 

“You think you’re up to try walking again?” she asked, her eyes wide in mock-innocence.

“Oh ha ha.”

“Come on,” she said, tugging him along behind her up the narrow staircases and down the hallway to her apartment. She didn’t let go of his hand until she had to get her keys out. But she unlocked the door swiftly, then grabbed his hand again, pulling him in and closing the door. 

Her lips were back on his in an instant, her hands grabbing the suitcase from him and setting it on the floor right by the door before she started pushing against his shoulders, navigating him backwards towards the bed. In two steps he felt the mattress against the back of his legs, so he sat down, his hands settling on her waist as she straddled him a moment later.

She rolled her hips down against him as she tugged her sweater over her head, leaving her in a simple black tank top, before she kissed him again, dropping her hands to his shoulders. He ran his hands through her hair, moving his lips across her jaw to her neck, desperate to retaste every square centimeter of her body. The little groan she let out only drove him on further, bucking his hips up against her.

It didn’t take long for the heat building between them to escalate, both of them grabbing, biting, pulling. As she slid her hands under his shirt and dragged her nails across his stomach, he tugged her tank top off. In an instant, her lips were back on his, rough and demanding as he dragged his hands across her torso, cupping her breasts.

From that point, it was a scramble to get all their remaining clothing off. As Riley hopped off his lap to shimmy out of her jeans, Drake threw his shirt onto the floor and started to undo his belt, but he was distracted when Riley scampered over to the closet. She opened the door and crouched down in just her bra and panties, clearly digging through something.

“Uhh, Liu? What the fuck are you doing?”

After a few seconds, she spun around, holding up a foil packet in triumph. “Looking for this,” she said as she walked back over to the end of the bed, “unless you _don’t_ want to have sex tonight?”

“You don’t have to take so much pleasure in teasing me, you know.”

“Well, unless you give me _another_ pleasure, it’s all I’ve got,” she said, grabbing his belt buckle and pulling him up to standing.

“God, your dirty talk is terrible,” he laughed, but it quickly turned into a groan as she undid his jeans and slid her hand over the front of his boxers.

“Yeah, thought that might stop your complaints,” she said, throwing him a wink as she yanked down his pants and pushed on his chest, nudging him back toward the bed. He pulled her panties off as he sat down, tugging her onto his lap as he slid fully onto the bed. 

His fingers fell between her legs and he started stroking her as she groaned and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him sloppily. He moved his hand slightly to slide a finger inside her, but she pulled away and shook her head.

“I just want to be closer to you right now, okay?” she said as she handed him the condom and reached behind her back to unclasp her bra. Drake had wanted to take his time with her, but her request was so sweet, so much more vulnerable than he was used to seeing her, that he just nodded, kicking off his boxers and rolling on the condom, and then she wrapped her legs around his waist and lowered herself onto him.

They both groaned at the sensation, Riley dropping her face to the crook of his neck and clawing her hands into his back. She clung to him tightly as she started to ride him, Drake raising his hips to match her rhythm and wrapping his arms around her. It was like they both were desperate to somehow be closer to each other, even though they were touching everywhere already. Riley eventually pulled her head back, sliding one hand up into his hair and staring right into his eyes before she tipped her head slightly and kissed him roughly.

It was overwhelming, feeling her wrapped around literally every part of him. He wasn’t sure if anything in his life had ever felt this damn good. It wasn’t the best sex he’d ever had, but somehow it just felt like _more_. A stray thought drifted through his mind that it felt like being home, but a slight tug on his hair from Riley as she ground against him drove everything but his physical pleasure from his mind.

“Riley,” he breathed out, “I’m not… gonna last. Are you… are you close?”

She nodded, biting her lower lip as she slid one hand off of his shoulder and down to just above where they were joined. He felt her fingers moving between their bodies, in time with their thrusts, and he closed his eyes, trying to stave off his inevitable release until she got there. He didn’t have to wait long, because a few moments later, she was clenching around him as she moaned out one of the most erotic noises he’d ever heard. He clutched at her hip and thrust up into her wildly, joining her as he fell over the edge, muttering her name into her neck over and over and slumping back against the wall behind him.

They stayed tightly wrapped around each other for several long moments, neither seeming to want to end their connection, but eventually, Drake felt Riley shift off him, moving her legs slightly, causing Drake to realize he kind of had her trapped. He leaned forward and she unwrapped her legs, sliding back further and straddling his knees as she stretched a bit. Drake grabbed the condom and leaned over to toss it into the trash. With his movements, he noticed Riley rising up as if to move away from him.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked as he clutched her wrist, finishing disposing of his mess and leaning forward to kiss her gently.

She smiled at him lightly once he pulled back, “It felt like you were trying to move.”

“Hell no. I’m not going anywhere,” he sighed out, sliding down and sinking into her crappy ass mattress, pulling her down to lay on top of him, her arms sprawling around his head and her legs tangling with his, “I’ve never been more comfortable.”

They laid like that, calm and relaxed for several minutes, Drake tracing his hand along her spine and Riley playing with his hair. It was so peaceful, Drake nearly felt himself drifting off to sleep when Riley spoke.

“Not to kill the mood, but I don’t think we can stay here.”

Drake shook his head, trying to follow her train of thought. He still felt stupid, like he was drunk, on her, on them, on being together, so it wasn’t surprising that his response was far from eloquent. “Huh?”

Riley smiled and batted her eyelashes before she answered, “I don’t mean we have to go anywhere right _now_. But I don’t think this apartment is going to work well for us going forward.”

“ _This_ is what you were thinking about during sex?”

“No, it’s what I’m thinking about _after_ sex. What I didn’t let myself think about while you were gone.” She trailed off at the end, burying her face in his chest. Drake understood these admissions weren’t easy for her, to talk about the uncomfortable realities instead of just marching forward and pretending everything was just fine, so he tried to soothe her, running his hand between her shoulder blades and dropping a kiss to the top of her head.

“Okay, so why can’t we stay here?”

“Drake, do I really have to tell you that?” she asked, pushing up slightly to look him in his eyes. “There’s barely enough space for one person here, much less two plus a dog.”

At the mention of Anderson, Drake lifted his head up, glancing around the studio, “Hey, where _is_ your dog?”

Riley laughed at that, “You’re just noticing he isn’t here _now_?”

“I had a few other things on my mind when we got up here.”

She laughed harder, “No, I think you had _one_ thing on your mind. To answer your question, Daniel had been asking me to take Anderson for a weekend. He and his boyfriend have been talking about getting a dog, and they wanted to do a trial run. This weekend seemed like a good choice.”

“So, you’re telling me it’s just the two of us for the next two days?” His hand trailed down her back and across her hip with his question, ready to continue reacquainting himself with her body, but she playfully swatted at his chest.

“Yes, so there will be time for more of _that_ later, after we finish talking about this.”

“What’s to talk about? You just said we don’t have to go anywhere tonight. I agree. Let’s not leave this bed.”

“Drake! I’m serious, what do you think about us finding a different apartment when the lease is up?”

Drake shrugged slightly, “I can’t say I’ve thought about it at all. Why do you want to move, anyway?”

“Well, there’s the whole size thing like I said. Also, you know, you hate it here.”

“I don’t hate it-”

“ _Yeah_ , you do. I love being this close to bars and restaurants, but you hate the noise and the crowds. Plus, they keep you up at night, and I hate to break it to you, but when you’re sleep deprived, you cross the line from lovable grump to straight up asshole.”

Drake just shook his head, “But like you said, you love this location. I’m not gonna ask you to leave it.”

“You aren’t asking, Drake. I’m bringing it up. And as the person here who actually has some experience living in different parts of the city, I think we should move somewhere that’s a fit for the two of us.”

“Liu we can barely afford this place. How the hell are we supposed to afford a bigger apartment?”

“I don’t know if you realize this, but New York City _does_ have more neighborhoods than the Lower East Side.”

“Haha,” he replied dryly. “I seem to remember the rental costs all over the island were obscene.”

“Well I know you’re practically a native New Yorker at this point, what with your one month of living here, but there are other boroughs besides Manhattan.”

Drake widened his eyes, thinking back on everything she had said about Brooklyn, Queens, basically any place that wasn’t Manhattan. Riley, upon seeing his reaction, just rolled her eyes.

“I may have been a touch dramatic in the past in regards to the surrounding metro area.”

“Well, that’s the motherfucking understatement of the year. You said that living in New Jersey was the same as choosing to live in a fucking armpit.” 

“I stand by that statement. But I _am_ willing to move out of Manhattan to get us a little more space and you a little more quiet.” 

“But you’ve always said you’re a Manhattan native.”

“So maybe it’s time to try something new.”

“Liu, you work four blocks from here.”

“Well, good thing that there’s this little thing called the subway that I could take to get to and from work.”

“But this is a convenient, practical location that you obviously chose for a reason. I won’t have you giving that up just because you think I’m uncomfortable here or whatever.”

Riley shrugged, “You gave up Cordonia for me. This is nothing.”

“But, Liu-”

“And,” she continued, ignoring his attempts to cut her off, “I don’t just _think_ you’re uncomfortable here. I _know_ you are. Drake, to this day you keep referring to it as _my_ apartment. I don’t think you’ve called it ‘ours’ even once. You’re right, this location works for me. But it doesn’t work for you, and that means it won’t work for us. Someone very wise once told me that relationships require compromise and that there would be a time going forward where I would be in the better position to make that compromise. So I’m making it.”

Drake blinked a few times, trying to wrap his head around this turn of events. She was putting _them_ first, something she’d done time and time over, but it still humbled him, to think that someone like her would see enough value in him to make sacrifices to accommodate him. But she had always seen him as better, more deserving, than he saw himself. And maybe it wouldn’t do well to question whatever good luck had put him in this place, to meet someone like her.

“Someone wise, huh?”

“He can be. When he’s not being a stubborn idiot.”

Drake let out a few chuckles at that. “I’ll take it. But I don’t want you to feel like you have to move to accommodate my grumpy ass.”

“Drake, don’t you _want_ a place that feels like it’s ours? Why are you fighting me on this?”

“ _Because I’m an insecure mess who doubts anything good in his life,_ ” ran through his mind, but he knew she was right. “As long as you’re sure, Riley.”

“I am. You aren’t going to talk me out of this, Drake Walker. You should know, you aren’t very good at talking me out of anything.”

“ _Really_.”

‘Absolutely. I’m _almost_ as stubborn as you, so you’re at a disadvantage from the start. And really, look at your track record. You repeatedly tried to talk me out of falling for you, and we know how that turned out.”

“I am rather glad you ignored me on that one.”

With that, she leaned down, tossing her hair to the side and kissing him again. He clutched her neck, moaning as she deepened the kiss. Eventually she pulled back, bracing herself on her elbows above him.

“I love you. You know that, right?”

He swallowed roughly, her long black hair forming a surreal sort of curtain off to the side, her face the only thing he really saw. “Yeah, I do. I love you, too.”


	22. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riley and Drake settle in for the next chapter of their lives.

Drake heard the locks on the apartment door clicking open and the squeak of the hinges, pulling him awake. He had no idea what time it was. With the time zone changes and his numerous flights over the past couple of days, any traces of an internal clock were blown to hell completely.

He heard Riley, clearly trying to move through the small space quietly. He figured it couldn’t be too late, otherwise she probably wouldn’t be making that much of an effort to stay relatively silent. Of course, given the number of times he’d woken up last night, his body clearly having no idea what time of day it was, maybe she was just being nice and letting him sleep in. He was contemplating keeping his eyes closed and seeing if he could fall back asleep, but when she turned on the faucet, any possibility of him drifting off again went out the window.

“What time is it?” he asked, clearing his throat and cracking his eyes open. Riley was in the little kitchen area of her apartment, in front of the coffee maker which Drake heard gurgling to life. She was still in her glasses and her hair was thrown into a messy sort of braid over her shoulder. She was wearing a blue t-shirt with a red “ny” printed across the front, but oddly enough, was wiggling out of the jeans she was wearing. She glanced up at his question, giving him a warm smile.

“A little before 10,” she said as she continued to peel off her pants.

Alright, well he’d slept in a lot, but at least it was still morning. Maybe he’d be able to correct his sleep schedule in the next night or two. He stretched slightly and sat up in bed. “Not that I mind,” he said as he let out a yawn, “but why are you getting undressed?”

She laughed, stepping out of her jeans and turning to the radiator that was on the side wall, crouching down and turning it on. “It’s brick out today, so I’m gonna have to turn on the heat, but this radiator has two settings, off and insanely boiling. ”

“So your radiator works… too well?”

“Yeah, living here in the winter means a very minimalistic dress code. And don’t _ever_ put anything on it to dry or you’ll definitely burn down the building.”

“Noted. Where’d you go this morning?”

She grabbed a little white bag off the counter and flopped back down on the bed, handing it to him as she propped her pillows up against the wall and settled in. “Grabbing breakfast,” she finally replied, nodding at the bag she’d handed to him.

“I would have made us breakfast. You could have woken me up if you were hungry.”

Riley smiled, but she shook her head slightly before she dropped it to his shoulder. “I want you to be happy here.”

Her statement caught Drake off guard. “I don’t mind cooking, Liu.”

“And while I intend to keep reaping the benefits of that fact, I want you to actually experience some of the fun things about New York.”

“And that means… bagels?” Drake asked as he peeked inside the bag.

“New York City bagels are special. Nowhere else in the world gets them right.”

“Yeah, _okay_.”

“I’m serious, Drake! Bagels in Cordonia are just not the same.”

“I’ll keep an open mind,” he said with an eye roll. “What kind did you get?”

“Sesame and everything,” she replied. Drake held the bag open for her to pick first, but she shook her head. “I like them both; you should pick.”

“What about ladies first?”

“Well, good thing I not a fucking lady,” she said raising an eyebrow. Drake just laughed and pulled out the sesame bagel before he passed the bag to Riley. She watched him expectantly as he took a bite. It was a damn good bagel, but he didn’t know if it was as life-changing as she made it out to be.

“So?” she asked once he swallowed down his first bite.

“It’s good, Liu.”

“Just good?”

“I don’t know what you want me to say. It’s a good bagel.”

“ _Whatever_ , you just don’t get it,” she said, shaking her head and pulling the other bagel out of the bag. Drake smiled before he took another bite.

“Eating these in bed was a terrible idea,” he said as he watched crumbs and sesame seeds tumble onto the sheets.

Riley shrugged. “We’ll just do laundry later. I have to go through and clean some stuff out of the closet and dresser anyway.”

“Why?”

“So you can finally get some space for your stuff and stop living out of a suitcase.”

Drake turned his head to look at her fully. She was happily enjoying her bagel, checking something on her phone with her other hand. After a few seconds, she glanced up to look at him. “What?” she asked between bites of her bagel.

“Thank you, Riley.”

“You’re welcome, Drake.”

He leaned forward, dropping a quick kiss on her lips before he climbed out of bed, sliding on his boxers and heading over to the coffee maker, figuring the pot must be ready at this point. He poured two mugs of coffee and added cream to Riley’s before he came back to bed, handing her mug to her before he slid back under the sheets. Riley shifted slightly as he settled in, draping her legs over his knees.

“So, I wanted to get your opinion on something,” he said after he took a sip of his coffee.

“What is it?”

“When I was in Texas, my mom invited me to come down for Christmas. Or rather, she invited us, I guess.”

“ _Okay_ …”

“Well, what do you think about that?”

Riley took a second before she answered, “I think what _I_ think doesn’t matter as much as what _you_ think.”

She was right, of course. It wasn’t fair to put this decision on her. Drake was just really torn. He got the sense that his mom was trying to reach out with the invite. But at the same time, it felt like doing this all at the holidays was just a way to pretend things were totally normal. Like they were some happy, perfect family who got together at Christmas and drank eggnog and sang carols. And Drake just wasn’t at that point yet, he didn’t think.

“I think… I think I’m not ready to do a big family holiday with her again. Not this year. Not so soon.”

Riley nodded slowly, “Okay,” she said, “We can do Christmas here. Just you and me. New York is a pretty fun city around the holidays, even if the tourists are a bit much on New Year’s Eve.”

“Sounds good, Liu. I _do_ want to take a trip back to Texas at some point, though. With you, I mean.”

She gave him a little smile. “I think that can probably be arranged.”

Drake ran his free hand over her legs as he brought his coffee back towards his lips, but before he could take another sip, Riley spoke.

“I have to tell you something, too.”

“Okay,” Drake replied, pausing and glancing at her. The statement sounded like it was something bad, but she only looked slightly nervous, and she was still drinking her coffee. He knew how she got when she had something to talk about that made her truly uncomfortable or upset, and it certainly wasn’t like this. So whatever she wanted to talk about, it must not be a massive deal.

“You know how we flew out to Cordonia and got that hotel for Constantine’s funeral?”

Drake held his coffee out in front of him as he carefully shifted slightly to face her a little better. “Yeah, Liu. I was there.”

She kicked her heel back lightly against his knee and rolled her eyes. “ _Anyway_ , I didn’t exactly pay for either or those things.”

Drake was sure he looked almost comically confused. He felt his brow furrowing as he shook his head slightly. “Then how-”

“Olivia paid for them.”

“Huh.”

“And I know you don’t like accepting favors from her, but I couldn’t see maxing out my credit cards when she was offering, you know?”

Drake nodded slowly. “So, you’re telling me that the hotel that we had for four nights, but only used for one, and the plane tickets that I only used one way - Olivia was the one who ate that cost?”

Riley smirked a little and dipped her head. “I didn’t know it was going to pan out that way.”

Drake just threw his head back and laughed, “This is great! Here I was feeling guilty that I wasted a bunch of your money, but instead I wasted hers.”

“Drake!”

“Oh, come on. You’ve been in her wine cellar, Liu. She’s not even gonna notice the difference.”

Riley shook her head, but she was smiling, so Drake figured she wasn’t too upset with his glee that Olivia had been the one to finance the travel plans that had ended up going completely sideways. “So, I take it you aren’t mad?”

“Not even slightly,” said Drake, sliding his hand down to her calf and squeezing it gently in reassurance. As they both continued to enjoy their coffee, they just talked, not about the serious, or the stressful, or the emotional. After last night, they’d both had enough of that for the moment. Instead, they talked about the mundane, the stupid, the silly, the bland, getting each other caught up on their days apart.

* * *

It had been just about a month since Drake last set foot in George’s diner. He cringed, thinking back on how he’d left things back then. How he’d been a sullen ass, consumed with guilt, angry at himself and the world. He hoped George didn’t fully remember the person he’d been, the way he’d behaved. 

He pushed open the door and entered, walking up to the counter. George was over serving an older man at the far end of the counter, but nodded at Drake in greeting, his eyebrows climbing his forehead just slightly. As soon as he’d taken care of the other customer, he strolled over to the register, reaching out to shake Drake’s hand.

“It’s been awhile, son. How are you?”

Drake paused for a moment before answering, “Better.”

George nodded at him slowly, wiping his hands on his apron. “Glad to hear it. You still looking for work?”

Drake shook his head. “No… well, not exactly. I signed with a temp agency last week. I started a few days ago with an insurance company, doing some data entry for the next couple of weeks.”

“Nothing wrong with that, son.”

Drake nodded. “I know,” he said, “a paycheck’s a paycheck.”

He knew that most people wouldn’t view working as a temp at his age as a great thing, but Drake had been relieved after his first meeting at the agency. When Riley and him had talked about what he might want to do for a job, she’d suggested checking out temp work when he expressed frustration that he didn’t really know what he wanted as a career. It felt like something he should have a better idea of at this point in his life, but Riley had seemed utterly unfazed by it. She’d mentioned temp agencies as a way to gain some actual work experience and make some money while he figured things out. Interviewing with the agency had been much lower stress than any of the other interviews he’d gone on last time, probably because, as Riley had told him, the agency wanted as many potential employees as possible since they got paid when their clients found work.

“I assume you’re here for some food and not just to chat.”

Drake chuckled, “I am. I actually called in a carry out order for Walker.”

So Drake paid up, chatting with George about Sam and the baby and how things were in his life as he got the order all bagged up. He waved goodbye and headed back to the subway, making his way back to the apartment.

He was getting better at navigating the city, or at least navigating Manhattan. Riley was right, the whole thing was a giant grid, so that much made sense. And he could appreciate that people here were blunt and direct. It was a nice contrast to the social games and doublespeak of court.

He didn’t know that New York felt like home at this point, but being here this time didn’t feel anywhere near as overwhelming as it did the first time. Part of it, he figured, was because he knew what he was getting into now. He also appreciated how much of an effort Riley was making to help him find aspects of New York he’d like. Every Monday night, when Riley was off, they’d gone out to some restaurant and bar. Riley assured him she was picking out places that she thought he’d like when he’d balked at some of types of cuisine she’d suggested, and she’d been right every time thus far. Besides, she’d told him there was little point living somewhere with every type of cuisine on the planet if he didn’t at least try some of them.

Their weekends had been a bit more variable, based on whether or not Riley was working. But this weekend she was off, and tonight was going to be a lazy night in. He knew Riley wasn’t really the type who liked to spend a Friday night lounging around in pajamas, but he appreciated that she understood him well enough to not push him to go out every night they could. Besides, tomorrow they were going to check out one of the city’s Christmas markets, something they were both actually looking forward to, it turns out.

The amount he and Riley were actually planning things was a little bit weird, considering she always talked about how impulsive she was and he knew he didn’t put much thought into the future or whatnot. But Drake realized that their combined efforts to not just roll along, with Riley getting up to eat breakfast with him a couple of mornings a week, with him going out for happy hour with a couple of his coworkers at the insurance company where he was posted, with both of them stepping out of their comfort zones just a little bit when it came to date nights, actually was making things a lot better. For him, at least. He hoped Riley felt the same way. He was pretty sure she did.

Drake exited the subway at the stop by the apartment and walked the couple of blocks quickly. It was December now, and the temperatures had really plummeted. Riley consistently referred to cold days as “brick,” which he’d found odd, but Luke at the office did the same thing, so he figured maybe it was a New York thing. He checked the mail and then climbed the stairs up to the fourth floor. He went to unlock the door, but paused for a moment. It almost sounded like the power drill he could hear running was coming from her unit.

He unlocked and opened the door, taking in what was going on. The first thing he noticed was, as always, the sweltering heat. Riley hadn’t been kidding when she told him the radiator ran very hot. He’d taken a peek at it to see if there was some obvious fix, but he was nervous to mess with too much, because Riley warned him the landlord would definitely assess them damages if it stopped working all together. Besides, he didn’t really mind the fact that both of them ended up wearing very little around the apartment these days.

The next thing that caught his attention, though, was Riley. She was indeed using a drill. It was a strange sight, watching her stand over by the window, dressed only in some gym shorts and a little tank top, attaching the legs to a chair. Drake wasn’t sure if he was more turned on or confused.

As soon as the whir of the drill stopped, Drake called out to her, “Liu, what the hell-” but she shrieked in surprise, letting the drill drop to the ground.

“Drake, you scared the _shit_ out of me,” she chastised as she reached down to pick up the drill. Anderson abandoned his post on the armchair, trotting over to greet Drake.

“Sorry,” Drake said, crouching down to give the dog a couple of scritches, “Does he need to go out?”

“Nah, I took him out maybe an hour ago,” she replied, before she turned back to her project and turned on the drill again. Now that he knew he didn’t immediately need to go back outside, Drake started stripping off his clothing, getting down to his t-shirt and boxers and placing their dinner on the counter before he went and sat on Riley’s side of the bed, watching her work.

“As I was saying,” he continued the next time the drill stopped, “what the hell are you doing?”

Riley looked at him like he was stupid. “I’m putting together a table and chairs.”

“I see that.”

“Then why’d you ask?”

“Where’s your desk?”

“I sold it online,” she replied before moving to turn the drill back on, but Drake reached out and grabbed her wrist, stopping her in her tracks.

“You gotta give me more than that, Liu.”

“The desk worked fine when it was just me, but you sitting on the side of the bed and me sitting at the desk to eat was not sustainable. So, I decided enough was enough. Uskea was running a promotion, so I bought us a table.”

“Riley…”

“Now, I picked a really small one, but does stick out a bit more than the desk did, so it’ll be a bit of a tight fit when you pull the chair back, but-”

Drake stood, grabbing her shoulders and kissing her roughly. After a few seconds, he pulled back, glancing down at the table and chair set she’d selected. A table and chairs that were meant for the two of them. It was such a tangible representation of a future with them together.

“I take it you like it?” she asked. He looked up and saw her smirking at him.

“Yeah, Liu. I do.”

* * *

Riley felt some faint butterflies in her stomach as she entered the restaurant, scanning the waiting area to see if he had arrived already, but she couldn’t find him anywhere. She checked the time on her phone. For once in her life, she was early. She could probably chalk that up to nerves.

Liam was in New York. He had let Drake know that he would be in town for three nights surrounding the UN Holiday Gala about a week ago, and had asked if the two of them would like to join him for dinner one night. The thought of hanging out with her live-in boyfriend and his best friend who happened to be her sort-of ex was a bit on the weird side already, but Drake had texted her this afternoon that his boss was making everyone stay late for some “bullshit,” so he would be coming straight from work and would probably be a bit late for the reservation. It meant that it would be just her and Liam, at least to start the night.

Deciding that a drink might help take the edge off a little bit, Riley made her way over to the bar and ordered herself a whiskey sour. She was taking her first sip when she saw a couple of men in crisp black suits enter and station themselves near the door. Sure enough, Liam was a few seconds behind them. Riley raised her hand, signaling her location. After a couple of seconds, Liam made eye contact and gave her a warm smile before he made his way over to join her at the bar.

She stood up from her stool, giving him a loose hug in greeting when he reached her. “Hey, Liam.”

“Hello, Riley. It’s good to see you.”

“You too. I was just grabbing a drink since we’ve got a little time before our reservation. Would you like one?”

“That sounds like an excellent idea,” he said, before sitting down on the stool next to the one she’d been using. He flagged down the bartender and ordered himself an Old Fashioned.

“I’ve never seen you drink one of those before,” said Riley as she climbed back onto her stool, mainly trying to find some innocent topic of conversation to carry them through until Drake arrived. Not that Drake’s arrival was going to lessen the dredges of awkwardness, but at least there would be three people to fumble through conversation instead of just two, so there would probably be fewer moments of uncomfortable silence.

“Yes, well… I’ve been having them on occasion since my father passed. They were his drink of choice, you see.”

“Oh,” Riley replied, taking a sip of her own drink. So much for an innocent topic of conversation. “Do you find them… therapeutic?”

Liam tilted his head to the side slightly. “I guess they’re a safe way to remember him.”

“That makes sense.”

The bartender returned with his drink at that point. Liam accepted it with a smile and nod, taking a sip of it before he continued.

“I know my father wasn’t a saint, and in some ways I’ve come to terms with the man he was. The choices he made, both as a father and a king, that I cannot stand behind were a part of him, but they weren’t all of him. But sometimes I just want to think about him as the man I loved, the man I looked up to, without worrying about the harsher realities. Drinking something that always made him smile is an easy way to do that.”

“Well, I get _that_ ,” said Riley, taking a sip of her own drink.

“Is there something you do like that to reminisce about your mother?”

“Oh sure, I just shoot up a little heroin,” she quipped, taking another sip of her drink.

Liam didn’t say anything, so Riley turned her head and looked at him fully. He was staring at her, his drink clutched tightly in his hand. “I’m fairly certain you’re joking, but I don’t want to say anything insensitive.”

Riley laughed at that. “Of course I’m joking, Liam.”

He let out a sigh before he smiled and gave a little chuckle, “I just wanted to make sure. You see, it’s come to my attention that I may not have gotten to fully understand your sense of humor.”

She frowned at that. “What are you talking about?”

Liam gave her a little shrug, “Drake and I often seemed to have somewhat different perceptions of you, your attitudes, your opinions, that sort of thing. Given everything that transpired, I think it’s safe to say that Drake’s understanding of you is significantly more accurate than mine.”

Riley winced at that. He said it all so matter-of-factly, but it was so fricking uncomfortable to remember that time and how she treated him. “Liam, I’m so sorry.”

“I’m not looking for an apology. I’m just looking to actually get to know you. The real you, not the version of yourself you felt the need to present to me before.”

Riley didn’t exactly know how to respond to that. Everything he’d said was painfully true. She’d been intimidated by him initially. She’d been so careful to not swear, to not be too sarcastic or judgemental in front of him. He was royalty, and she was a brash, potty-mouthed waitress. It’s part of the reason she’d started spending more and more time with Drake, even when he was still a rude asshole to her. She’d never had to pretend around him.

Even as time went on, she never felt comfortable enough around Liam to fully drop the act. I mean, he got flustered if she flirted overtly, he never teased her, always just finding little ways to agree with her when she teased him, and he pursued her like he was some cheesy romance novel character. It had always just felt like she had to keep playing a part with him. She just didn’t know how to tell him that without hurting him more than she undoubtedly already had. It wasn’t that his way of doing things was bad; it just was never right for her.

Liam shook his head at her prolonged silence. “Riley, I can understand why you felt the need to censor yourself around me. I had hoped I had made you comfortable enough to be your genuine self with me, but that obviously wasn’t the case. But at this point, I really just want to get to know the woman who’s dating my best friend, okay? If you’re going to be in his life, I want us to have an authentic friendship of our own.”

“I don’t know where to start.”

“How about cursing?”

“What?”

“Drake tells me you have a rather colorful vocabulary. Well, I’d like to hear it.”

“I don’t know, Liam….”

“Trust me, Riley. I’m friends with Drake. I don’t think there is anything you could say that would scandalize me.”

She let out a rough breath and closed her eyes, not sure if his idea was mad brilliant or mad stupid. “Liam, do you really fucking think that hearing me call some of the fucking bitches at court annoying, petty motherfucking assholes with no goddamn common sense is going to help you get to know me? Because it feels like it might be a bunch of bullshit.”

She opened her eyes slowly, but Liam was just giving her a gentle smile. “Good. I think that’s a start at least.”

Riley smiled back at him. “Okay then. You asked for it. You get all the fucking profanities from here on out. Just remember, it was all your idea.”

He laughed at that. “No need to worry. I’ll remember.”

Riley was about to suggest going up to see if their table was ready, but she saw Drake dart through the door, scanning the waiting area, clearly looking for one or both of them, and then approaching the hostess stand when he couldn’t find them.

“Ah, shall we go join him?” asked Liam as he followed her gaze.

“Yeah, sounds good,” said Riley, hopping off her stool and falling into step beside Liam as they walked over. As they approached the entrance, she caught the tail end of what the hostess was telling Drake.

“- first from your party to arrive, but your table is ready if you want to follow me.”

Drake shook his head. “That can’t be right. I-” but he stopped talking when he caught sight of the two of them. “Oh, there you guys are.”

“Hello, Drake,” said Liam, walking over with his arms extended, exchanging a brief hug with him before stepping back.

“Hey, man. How are you?”

“I’m doing well. Did I hear our table’s ready?”

“Yes, sir. If you three could follow me,” the hostess chimed in.

As Liam fell in behind the hostess, Riley stepped up, squeezing Drake’s arm in greeting and sliding her hand down to his as she moved to follow Liam and the hostess to their table. But Drake tugged her back, so she spun to face him.

“What’s up?”

“I’m sorry I’m late for this. Was it… are you guys okay?”

She just gave him a smile and nodded. “Yeah. I think everything’s going to be fine.” She squeezed his hand to reassure him, then tugged him forward. “Come on, let’s go enjoy a fancy ass dinner with our friend.”


	23. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Moving forward, together.

“So, who owns this place again?”

“It’s Cam’s uncle’s girlfriend’s sister’s building.”

“And we trust her… why?”

“Because she is fine with Cam vouching for us, so no income minimum, no issue with your lack of credit history, and no broker’s fee.”

Drake nodded. It still felt kind of shady to him, going to check out random units they heard about from different people they were tangentially connected to, but he was deferring to Riley completely, seeing as he had never been responsible for finding his own housing in his life. And apartment hunting in New York, it turned out, was a complicated task.

Back in February, when they’d started trying to figure out what neighborhoods to consider, Riley had told him not to bother searching the units listed on basically any website.

“There’s gonna be massive broker’s fees, and they probably won’t take us since we won’t have a guarantor. There’s a lot of scams, too. Just talk to your coworkers, word of mouth is going to be the best way to do this,” she’d warned him. 

Drake had done as she’d asked, but the units that his connections, the ones at the law firm he’d been sent to as coverage for one of the assistants who was out after surgery, recommended had not been a good fit. One didn’t allow dogs, one had been a definite bait and switch scam that looked nothing like the pictures he’d been shown, and the one they’d checked out last week was nice, but they would have needed a roommate to make it affordable, something they both weren’t really interested in doing.

But today they were checking out a one bedroom place in the Kensington neighborhood in Brooklyn that she’d heard about through one of her managers. They were supposed to meet with the building owner at 3 o’clock, so they had taken the F train over just after lunch so that Drake could get a better feel for the area.

Now that it was April, the weather was finally feeling like spring more consistently. It really couldn’t have been a nicer day for them to walk around the neighborhood. Drake was shocked at how close they were to a park. It was crowded as all get out, given that everyone and their mother seemed to want to take advantage of the pleasant day, but Prospect Park was large, had fishing spots, and most importantly, was some actual green space. While there were still numerous restaurants in the neighborhood, it felt so much more residential than their current apartment’s location. Drake could actually see why people would choose to live in a place like this.

The building owner, Kris, let them in and showed them up to the second floor walk-up she was looking to lease. It was in an older building, but everything looked well maintained at least. And it was big, probably twice as big as their current apartment. Drake was sure the fact that he’d been living in a 35 square meter studio for over four months was influencing him, but it just felt larger than his quarters at the palace had been, even though he was sure that wasn’t the case.

He wandered around, checking out the bedroom while Riley chatted specifics with Kris. After their first apartment tour a couple of weekends ago, they’d both quickly decided that was the best approach. Not only did Riley have more experience and knew the better questions to ask, but when left to her own devices, she was often able to charm landlords into throwing in some sort of perk, like waiving the pet fee or granting them some flexibility on move in dates. It was best to let her just do her thing.

As he checked out the closet space, it hit him how different his life was now than it was even six months ago. That Drake would have just been amazed that Riley would ever willingly choose to be with him over Liam. He could have never pictured himself choosing an apartment in New York with her. Sitting down and making plans for the future with her. 

It was easy to look at her and say that the change was all about her. And to an extent, that was true. He probably wouldn’t have found the motivation to make any changes in his life if he hadn’t met her. But it really was about more than that. It was about stepping up, letting go of the past, and taking ownership of his own happiness. He remembered Riley yelling at him, telling him he was scared to make changes in his life because he might still end up miserable on the other side of them. Basically telling him he needed to stop making himself a victim by his own choosing. And she’d been right.

Sure, some things were still a work in progress. Their visit to Texas a handful of weeks ago had proven that his relationship with his mother was not going to be mended overnight, after all. But on the other hand, he was hard pressed to imagine the man he was six months ago willingly getting an office job and going out for drinks after work with colleagues. He probably also wouldn’t have gotten a more “professional” haircut at the advice of one of those coworkers in hopes of turning a temp job into a permanent one. He would have fought such advice tooth and nail, insisting that anyone who cared that much about something as dumb as a haircut was a stuck up asshole, not worth his time. And while part of him still felt that way, he now saw it was a small price to pay to try and gain a more stable income so that Riley could cut down to part time at the bar and go back to college in the fall and work on finishing those last two semesters. Plus, she seemed to like his cleaned up cut, which was an added bonus.

The only way her going back to school was even a possibility was actually because of Maxwell. When he had let them know he was coming to New York for a “business venture,” they had both been confused, to say the least. But, when they met up with him for dinner and drinks, he’d told them he had found a way to bring some much needed cash to the Beaumonts - he had sold the rights to a holiday movie to the Hallmark channel, and that the script was so well received that they wanted him to keep writing for them. This had meant nothing to Drake himself, but Riley had just laughed, explaining that it was a TV network that made dozens of cheesy romance movies each year, many of them centered around Christmas.

When pressed, Maxwell had informed them, rather reluctantly, that the plot of the movie centered around a New York City waitress who came to a European country as the date of a prince for some Christmas ball, but ended up falling in love with his best friend. Despite Maxwell’s assurances that he was barely inspired by them _and_ that all the names and locations were changed _and_ that Christmas had nothing to do with Riley’s time in Cordonia, Drake and Riley had called him out on profiting off _their_ story. Eventually, they struck a deal - they got a percentage of his payout for the script, which was going to cover most of Riley’s first semester tuition, and Maxwell had to help them with their move. It still irritated Drake a bit that Maxwell had just decided to throw their story out there for the world, but Liam had told him he approved the script and said it really wasn’t identifying at all, so Drake just decided to be grateful that Maxwell had not only brought Riley into his life, but also was giving her a ticket towards a job that didn’t require her to work a shit-ton of nights and weekends.

Drake wandered back towards the living and kitchen area, passing Riley and Kris in the narrow hallway, looking at the bathroom. He squeezed her hand as he passed them, and she threw him a little wink. He took in the main space of the apartment. They would be able to get a couch and a TV in there with their table, maybe even a bookcase. The kitchen was actually pretty nice, too. It probably had three times as much counter space as their current place. Everything here felt like it could work.

He opened the cabinets absentmindedly, half checking out the storage space, half waiting to see what Riley had to say about the place. After a couple more minutes, Riley and Kris came back out.

“Alright, well I’ll give you two a minute to talk it over,” said Kris, heading to the door, “I’ll be back in a few and you can let me know if you want to go forward with a lease.”

“Sounds good. Thanks, Kris.” said Riley, leaning against the end of the counter.

As soon as the door latched, Riley looked up at Drake. “So what do you think?”

“I think it’s great. It feels too good, to be honest. How bad’s the rent?”

Riley paused for a couple seconds. “1850.”

“That can’t be right. That’s less than what we’re paying now, and it’s so much bigger.”

She chuckled a little bit, “Well, that’s the beauty of not living in a prime neighborhood.”

Drake just shook his head. He considered this location to be _far_ more desirable than their current one, but he knew he was in the minority there. “What do _you_ think about it?”

“I think this could be a really good fit for us.”

“You’re okay with his neighborhood?”

She nodded and gave him a smile. “This is a pretty diverse area of the city, so the restaurant options are good, and there’s decent access to the Q and F trains, so the commute shouldn’t be too bad.” She stood up and joined him further in the kitchen, placing her hands on his shoulders. “Let’s be real, Drake. I’m not going to be as hard to please with this as you are. So, you gotta be honest with me. Can you see yourself here?”

He nodded. “Yeah, Liu. I can. I love this place.”

“Really?”

“Really. Is she willing to lease to us?”

“It seems like it. It sounds like her last tenant moved out unexpectedly, and her late partner used to handle the financial side of things, so she just wants to rent it out as quickly as possible.”

“And she’s cool with Anderson?”

“She told me she’s fine with small breeds.”

“Great, let’s sign.”

“Woah there,” she said, laughing, “And they say I’m the impulsive one.”

“What’s to discuss, Liu? Do you think we’re gonna find a better place than this one?”

She just shook her head and shrugged a little.

“Okay, then I stand by my statement - we should sign the lease today. If she’s motivated to lease this unit quickly, don’t we need to jump on it?”

“I just want you to be sure, Drake,” Riley said, biting her lip slightly before she continued, “Last time you moved on a whim, things kind of… blew up for us for a while.”

Drake let out a little snort, “I think this is a little different, Liu.”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “That may be the case, but I want us to actually take a minute and think about this. Make sure we can see ourselves here, okay?” And with that she plopped down on the floor, laying back and closing her eyes.

“Uh, Liu… what the fuck are you doing?”

She opened one eye and squinted at him. “I’m just taking a moment to tune out everything else and think about this. You should try it,” she said, waving him down.

Drake rolled his eyes, but sat down on the kitchen floor and leaned back slowly in the opposite direction. This seemed dumb as hell, but if it’s what she needed from him to not feel like he was going to flake out on her, he would do it.

They laid like that for almost a minute, breathing slowly. No fears or concerns or worries crept into his mind, which he was pretty sure was the point of this exercise. He wasn’t sure how long they were supposed to do this, but then he heard her moving and felt her curl her body against his head, snaking her hand under his neck and resting her head on his chest.

“So, any reservations about his place?” she asked.

He opened his eyes and glanced down at her. Her eyes were staring back at him, wide and dark.

“None,” he said shaking his head slightly, “I think the fact that there’s enough floor space in the kitchen for us to do this has just convinced me even _more_.”

She chuckled softly, tracing soft circles along his neck with her fingers. “So, you want to sign the lease then?”

“Yeah, Liu,” he said, letting his eyes fall shut at her soothing touch. “This feels like home.”


End file.
